Mad World
by easilyobsessed
Summary: Claire has tried to move on from her past, and is starting her first year of college in New York when she meets an old friend Peter Petrelli. But danger is still around the corner… Nathan is NOT Claire’s father… Paire. AU
1. Slow New York

Mad World

_Ok this if my first heroes story, but I love the show and I hope whoever reads the story will like it. It doesn't follow where the show left off at… but some of the things are the same haha. Hopefully it will be clear in the story. Please review because I just want to know if you hate this story or like it or whatever haha. Thanks read and enjoy…_

Big Summary- Claire is in her first year of college at NYU and she's recently turned 18. She hasn't seen Peter since he saved her at homecoming. Peter has remained friends with Niki, Dl, Micah, Hiro, Ando, Matt and of course Nathan but no one else. He's also gotten control over his powers. Sylar's been gone for a while but news is that he could be back. Peter is 29. Again Nathan is NOT Claire's father.

Chapter 1: Slow New York

Claire Bennet pulled up her low-rise jeans and grabbed the last box she had to move into her dorm, from her car. She wasn't quite sure why she brought a car to her first year of college in New York. It has been a present from her dad, sort of an apology for all the crazy stuff that had happened over the last couple of years… or ever since she found out she was basically a freak that was invincible. But she was trying to move on from that thought, and live a normal life. And who could think of a better way to do that then going to college with other normal kids in New York.

She struggled up the one flight of stairs to her dorm room, anxious to start unpacking and get settled into her new life. When she opened the door she gasped because there was a girl in there, who definitely wasn't there before.

"Oh my god, sorry I didn't mean to scare you." The girl said sweetly walking over to Claire.

"Oh um, no problem." Claire said, "Are you my roommate?" Claire asked her while putting the heavy box down on her bed.

"Yeah, my names Jennifer, but you can call me Jen. Everybody does." Jennifer said.

Jennifer was tall and slim, and had wavy long brown hair. She was wearing tight jeans and a pink tank top.

"Hi, um my name's Claire." Claire said reaching her hand out to Jennifer.

"Nice you meet you Claire… or should I say roomie." Jen said laughing as she shook Claire's hand.

"Do you need help getting stuff up here?" Claire asked Jen, considering she was already done.

"Oh, um thanks but my parents have the van with all my stuff and they're not coming till later tonight, so right now we can just chill." Jen said jumping onto her bed. "Where are you from Claire?" Jen asked her.

"Texas." Claire said sighing as she sat down on her messy bed.

"Awesome! I've actually never been to Texas but I hear there's a lot of farms and stuff there." Jennifer said.

"Yeah, in some parts of it." Claire said, "Where are you from?" Claire asked her, kind of laughing. She could tell she was going to like her new roommate, because she was very easy to talk to.

"I'm from Denver. I've totally loved New York ever since I was little, and I'm freaking out that I'm like actually going to college here." Jen said.

"Yeah, I can tell I love it already. Really different from where I'm from though." Claire said thinking back to the small Texas town she was from.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Jen asked Claire, looking all gossipy.

"Um no, definitely not. You?" Claire asked back.

"Ew, no. I'm all about being a single college party girl." Jen said.

"Totally, me too." Claire said smiling.

Later on that night Claire agreed to brave the streets and find her and Jennifer something to eat, while Jennifer moved in some of her stuff with her parents. Immediately when Claire got outside she regretted that she hadn't brought a jacket, because she was only wearing a thin t-shirt and it was really windy. Being from Texas was not going to help her with the winter weather that was coming soon. But she was too lazy to go back and get a jacket, so she just started walking down the busy street trying to find a cheap place to eat.

Claire wasn't watching where she was going when she ran into someone head on.

"I'm so sorry." Claire said looking up and almost gasping when she realized who it was.

"Oh my god, Peter?" She asked.

"Wha…" Peter started, but then he realized that it was the cheerleader he saved two years ago. "Claire." He said smiling and reaching out to hug her. Claire awkwardly hugged him back.

"Um, what are you doing in New York?" Peter asked her, not knowing what else to say to a girl that he randomly saved from dying, and never saw again.

"Um, starting my first year of college at NYU." Claire said.

"Wow. I um… your in college now." Peter said.

"Uh, yes I am. Just got moved into my dorm today." Claire said.

"Well cool. Um look, I really need to get going, but I'd love to have dinner with you tomorrow night." Peter said.

Claire hesitated. She wasn't sure she wanted to be connected to her old life so quickly "I don't know if that's a good idea." Claire said.

"Come on, I want to hear about your life." Peter said touching her lightly on the arm, which made Claire's body tingle to her surprise.

"I'm not sure I can." Claire said, trying to think up any excuse.

"I know the best Italian place in New York." Peter said raising his eyebrows "I'll even pay."

"I don't like Italian." Claire lied.

"You are so lying." Peter said pointing a finger at her.

"Alright I am, but…" Claire was going to make up another excuse but she finally decided against it "Ok, I'll meet you for dinner tomorrow."

Claire walked into the Italian restaurant Peter told her to meet him at. She had turned down his offer to give her a ride. She scanned the restaurant and couldn't see him anywhere.

"Looking for me?" she heard a voice ask her, and she realized it was Peter. He had put his hand on her back lightly trying not to scare her.

"Uh, Yeah." Claire said.

A pretty waitress came up to the two of them "table for two?" She asked them… but dropped her jaw when she saw Peter. "Peter freaking Petrelli!" She said loudly.

"Oh my god, Brooke." Peter said embracing her in a hug.

Claire looked at the two of them quizzically.

"Sorry, let me get you two to your table." Brooke said grabbing two menus and leading Claire and Peter to a table by the large floor to ceiling window that looked out onto a busy New York street.

"Peter, I can't believe I haven't seen you since college." Brooke said smiling with wide eyes.

Brooke could practically be model she was so pretty. Claire was immediately jealous of her bright red hair and perfect body. For all she knew Brooke and Peter were probably some hot couple in college, and for some reason this made her hate Brooke

"I know, that's crazy." Peter said.

"I can see you've moved on. Is this your new girlfriend?" Brooke asked him motioning to Claire.

"Oh um, no this is my friend Claire." Peter said smiling at Claire who returned it gratefully.

"Oh good, I was going to say. She looks a little young for you." Brooke said with a laugh.

Claire shot a cold look at Brooke. That was a bitchy thing to say.

"Anyway, can I get you guys something to drink?" Brooke asked them, but she was only looking at Peter.

"I'm fine with water." Peter said.

"For you?" Brooke asked Claire, finally looking at her.

"Waters fine." Claire said through clenched teeth. Something about Brook just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Ok, be right back with that then." Brooke said winking at Peter and practically skipping away.

"Old girlfriend?" Claire asked Peter, and he reacted by laughing a little.

"No, we were good friends in college but I haven't seen her in like four years." Peter said, sensing that for some reason Claire was jealous, and he liked the thought of Claire liking him… he knew he shouldn't be thinking that but he was.

"Oh." Claire responded looking down at her hands that were resting in her lap. She took her napkin and folded it in her lap.

Peter looked over at Claire. She sure had grown in two years… and she was pretty hot. Peter silently cursed himself for even thinking that, but he knew it was true.

"So um, what have you been doing since I last saw you?" Peter asked her.

"Trying to move on." Claire said "I haven't even used my power once."

"Really? Wow. I've tried to get control of mine. See I, kind of, absorb other people's powers when I'm around them so I've been getting help from this guy Claude to control them all." Peter said.

"Interesting." Claire said.

"And I'm friends with a bunch of other people, you know, like us, who live in New York. I'm going to see all of them tomorrow. You should come." Peter said.

"I can't." Claire said.

"Let me guess, you're busy." Peter said, sounding frustrated.

"Actually no. But I just don't think it's a good idea." Claire said.

"That's what you said about having dinner with me, but you know that you're having fun right now." Peter said smiling, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Peter…" Claire started, looking down.

"What?" He asked her leaning forward a little.

"Look its great seeing you and everything, but I'm trying to move on. You know live a normal life." Claire said.

Peter paused for a while "Look I completely understand where your coming from Claire, but you're not normal." Peter said.

Claire laughed a little. "Believe me, I know."

"I really think you should come with me tomorrow. It would be a good idea to get to know these people, you know have them on your side." Peter said.

"Why, its not like Sylar's around anymore." Claire said a little jokingly.

"Actually that's not completely true." Peter said.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked him, feeling a shot of fear run through her body.

"No one's seen him yet, but there's a lot of rumors that he's back… and I have a feeling he's going to come to New York sooner or later." Peter said.

"Great." Claire said sarcastically "goodbye normal life." Claire said to herself.

"I just want you to be safe Claire." Peter said, wondering if that was a kind of intense thing to say to a girl he barely knew.

"Of course, you are my hero if I remember correctly." Claire said, thinking back to when he first saved her.

"So will you come with me tomorrow?" Peter asked her.

Claire looked into his eyes, and saw that he really was pleading with her to go. He looked genuinely worried about her.

"Ok, I guess. But I don't want my roommate to know that I'm having a party with a bunch of…" Claire was trying to search for the right word.

"Freaks." Peter said for her.

Claire laughed, "yeah, I guess."

"Well I wasn't planning on finding your roommate and telling her or anything." Peter said.

"I just… if you ever do meet her… basically I'm not planning on telling her that I'm invincible." Claire said, with a lot of frustration.

"Ok, don't worry." Peter said.

Brooke watched Claire and Peter laughing with each other from a distance. She didn't know who this 'Claire' girl was, but she could tell that she had a thing for Peter, which was not going to work seeing as Brooke definitely had a thing for Peter.

Claire walked into her dorm room smiling as she collapsed onto her bed.

"How was the date?" Jen asked her looking away from her laptop.

"It was not a date." Claire said defensively.

"Whatever. I need to meet his Peter guy. Is he hot?" Jen asked Claire, sitting on the edge of Claire's bed.

"He's 29." Claire said.

"So? Your eighteen, that's pretty much ten years." Jen said waving her hand as if it was no big deal.

"Yeah, exactly… ten years is kind of a lot." Claire said.

"Not really. My parents are eleven years apart in age difference. Plus it's less weird when the guy is older then the girl." Jen said.

"Jen, I can't date Peter. That's too weird." Claire said.

"Well, I mean, you did just go out on a date with him." Jen said.

"Shut up." Claire said grabbing a pillow and hitting Jen.

"Your so defensive. Girl you totally have a crush on this guy." Jen said playfully hitting Claire back.

"I do not!" Claire said "but to answer your question, he is pretty hot." Claire said quietly.

A smile spread across Jen's face "Oh I can't wait to meet Peter. I'll have to see how you two interact to fully assess the situation… but I already know you have a crush on him."

"Whatever, I so do not." Claire said, but she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

Claire and Jen were walking out of their room the next day. Claire was heading out to meet Peter, and Jen was going running. The two of them walked up to a very hot guy.

Claire was planning on just walking right by him but Jen stopped.

"Hi I'm Jen, do you go to NYU?" Jen asked him.

"Yeah, I'm Jesse." He said smiling at both of them, and if Claire didn't imagine it, it seemed like he smiled extra at her. "What's your name?" He asked Claire.

"Claire." She said, no she did not imagine it. He was definitely giving her a very big smile right now.

"Well nice to meet you guys… or girls I mean." He said.

"Yeah, hey do you know of any parties tonight or sometime soon. I'm totally need to get wasted and have some fun." Jen said smiling.

"Actually there's one tomorrow night. My friend told me about it. It's at this bar. Why don't you give me your number Claire, and I can call you tomorrow about it." Jesse said.

"Ok sure." Claire said, taking Jesse's phone and entering her number in it.

"Alright, I'll call you tomorrow." Jesse said walking away from them smiling one more time at Claire.

Jen was pouting, "Why do you get all the hot guys?" Jen asked her.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked back.

"It's obvious that Jesse dude likes you, and Peter probably does too." Jen said.

"You haven't even seen Peter yet, so you don't know if he's hot. And I don't think Jesse likes me." Claire said, even though she was pretty sure he that he did.

"Liar, and Claire, his name is Peter Petrelli, he has to be hot with that superhero name." Jen said smiling.

"What?" Peter Petrelli doesn't sound like a superhero name." Claire said.

"It totally does." Jen said "anyway, I don't have time to argue about superheroes with you, I've got to get running. I'll see you later tonight." Jen said waving to Claire as she took off running.

"Ok bye." Claire said waving after her.

Claire walked out onto the sidewalk and waited for Peter.

She was really nervous about meeting everyone for some reason. She felt like she wouldn't fit in…even though that didn't really make any sense. She was wearing jeans and a pale blue long sleeved shirt with a simple necklace. Her long blond curls were hanging loosely, and she hoped that she looked put together… without trying to be. She was so deep in thoughts of herself that she practically screamed when she felt Peter place a hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa, you ok there?" Peter asked her.

Claire laughed, "Sorry, I was just daydreaming." Claire said rolling her eyes, could she possibly embarrass herself more in front of Peter. Screaming just from his touch… not good.

"Aright, well are you ready?" He asked her.

"Yeah, let's go." Claire said taking in a deep breath and following Peter to his car that was parked down the street.

Claire and Peter arrived at Niki, DL, and Micah's flat. They walked down the hall towards the flat but Peter stopped walking when he realized Claire wasn't by his side. He looked back and saw her leaning against a wall.

"Claire… you ok?" He asked while walking towards her.

"Yeah, fine. I'm just a little nervous." Claire said trying to laugh it off. Why did she have to act so… young.

"Don't worry, they're going to love you. I mean I do." Peter said.

Claire looked at him sharply, and Peter realized what he had just said.

"I mean, you're really cool Claire. They're going to like you." He said holding out his hand for her to take "come on."

Claire placed her hand in his "here goes nothing." Claire said.

They walked up to the door Claire's hand was still in Peter's. The young Micah opened up the door.

"Hey." Micah said. All the sudden Niki came running towards the door yelling.

"Micah! What did I tell you about opening the door to strangers..." She said but then trailed off when she saw that it was Peter "Oh it's Peter. Well still, Micah you should let me or DL answer the door." Niki said placing a protective hand on Micah's shoulder.

"Sorry mom." He said shrugging.

"Sorry about that, come in Peter… and I'm assuming this is Claire." Niki said smiling at Claire.

"No problem, and yes this is the Claire I was telling you about." Peter said letting go of Claire's hand.

"Hi. I'm Niki, and this is Micah." Niki said.

"Hey." Claire said taking in a deep breath.

A few seconds later DL, Matt, Hiro, and Nathan walked out from another room in the flat. Claire felt her breath quicken. Peter must've sensed this because he grabbed her hand again and pushed her ahead of him a little whispering "your doing great" into her ear. Those few words gave Claire a lot more confidence, not to mention almost made her melt.

"You must be Claire." Matt said.

"Yes I am." Claire said putting on her best smile.

"Claire, this is Matt, Hiro, DL, and Nathan." Niki said taking the initiative to introduce everyone.

"Nice to meet you all." Claire said, already feeling better about the situation. Niki had a really calming effect on her for some reason, and the fact that her hand was still in Peter's helped too.

"You the cheerleader." Hiro said smiling at her "save the cheerleader, save the world." Hiro said.

Claire laughed; she could tell she liked this Hiro guy "yes, that's me." Claire said.

"So your invincible?" Matt asked her.

"Um, yeah, pretty weird I know." Claire said.

"We're all pretty weird." Nathan said.

"Well I tried my best to make some lunch, so if you guys want to sit down anywhere then I can bring the food out here." Niki said.

"Sounds good." Micah said jumping on the couch.

"Um, Micah, could you please come and help me?" Niki asked him.

"Mom…" he whined.

"Come on." She said motioning him over.

"Alright, coming." He said getting up and running after his mom.

Matt, DL, Hiro, and Nathan all went to sit down.

"Nathan's my brother." Peter whispered to Claire as he led her over to two empty seats on the couch.

"And Hiro has a friend Ando, but he's couldn't come today. I'm sure you'll meet him soon." Peter said waiting for Claire to sit down and then taking the seat next to her.

"So Claire, you're in your first year of college right?" Matt asked her.

"Yes, just got moved in yesterday." Claire said.

"I don't want to alarm you or anything, but be careful and try not to go to many places alone. Word is that Sylar's lurking." Matt said.

"Yeah, Peter told me." Claire said.

"Well you probably don't need to worry too much." Nathan said.

"Hiro will protect you." Hiro said.

Claire laughed aloud "Thanks Hiro." She said smiling.

"Ok guys, here's lunch" Niki said as her and Micah walked into the living room with trays of food and drinks.

After lunch the group talked some more about their powers. Claire got filled in on Niki's crazy alter ego Jessica, but that Niki has gotten pretty good at controlling her now. Claire was especially impressed with Hiro's ability though.

Claire and Peter left at around four in the afternoon and Peter drove her back to her dorm.

He walked her up to the door of her dorm building.

"Thanks for making me go. I'm really glad I did." Claire said.

"No problem. I thought you'd like everyone." Peter said.

"Yeah, I did. That Hiro guy is pretty cool." Claire said.

"Not as cool as me though right?" Peter asked her, jokingly acting all macho.

Claire laughed "he's like ten times cooler then you." Claire said.

"You're so mean." Peter said, "I have no self esteem thanks to you Claire Bennet." Peter said acting all sad.

"Aw, I'm sorry, did I make little Peter sad?" Claire asked him.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore." Peter said, still acting sad.

"How about a hug?" Claire asked him.

"That might help." He said.

"Ok." Claire said rolling her eyes and leaning over and giving Peter a hug "your actually pretty cool too." She whispered as she pulled away from Peter.

Peter nodded at her "Are we still on for breakfast tomorrow?" He asked her.

"Of course, we can walk there right?" Claire asked him.

"Yeah, I'll meet you here at ten." Peter said.

"See you then." Claire said walking into her dorm building.

Peter watched Claire go… why did she have to be so damn hot, and have such a cute laugh, and have the sweetest personality. Peter loved being able to be her support when she was scared to meet everyone today. But Claire was so young, wasn't it wrong to like her in that way? Well he didn't know the answer to that but he was pretty certain he did like her in that way… and that probably wasn't a good thing.

_That was the first chapter, please review… please haha. I love it when people do. Um I should update in less then a week and I hope you liked the first chapter._


	2. When The Sun Goes Down

When The Sun Goes Down

_Hey guys, I'm so excited about writing this story haha. Oh my god thank you so much for the reviews they were so nice. Inspire 16 thank you for your suggestions, haha I tried to do this line break thing but my comp is a fool and it didn't work. So I just put x's in to represent a new scene. Anyways thanks again and keep that up. Sorry if there are typos, but I really wanted to get this chapter out. Also I don't own Heroes, obvi… Read and Enjoy…_

Claire walked out of her dorm building to wait for Peter to go to breakfast. Claire had only been in New York for two days and she already felt like life was crazy. Things were definitely not going the way she had planned, seeing as she had already been pulled back into her old life, which she had desperately wanted to get away from. But she was beginning to realize that maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. Something about everyone that was just like her, everyone who had special powers, gave her so much comfort and confidence in herself.

And then there was Peter, who was pretty much perfect in her opinion. But it pained Claire so much that she thought this because she felt like Peter would never, ever, go for her. After all she was eleven years younger then him and he was probably already going to get together with that Brooke girl from the Italian restaurant.

"Hey Claire" Peter said walking up to her… of course he was looking perfect in his plain black t-shirt and baggy jeans.

"Hi." Claire said immediately feeling a smile spread across her face.

"You ready to go?" Peter asked her.

"Sure." Claire said.

"Great, it's just around the corner." Peter said starting to walk as Claire joined him.

"Sorry I'm late." He said.

"You aren't late." Claire said.

Peter laughed a little to himself.

"What's so funny?" Claire asked him.

"You." Peter said looking over at her.

"What are you talking about?" She was starting to feel very self-conscious. Oh god, was her shirt on backwards?

"It's nothing bad. Your just really sweet that's all." Peter said stopping in front of the little café they were about to eat at.

Great, Claire thought sarcastically. He thought she was sweet, not sexy or mysterious, just plain old boring sweet.

"After you." He said opening the door for her.

"Thanks." She said walking inside the restaurant that was nice and warm compared to the brisk New York air.

Peter led her over to an open space on a small couch next to a coffee table. Claire sat down, and Peter sat down close next to her.

"This is cozy." Claire said smiling at Peter, trying her best to put on a "sexy" smile.

"Yeah, I love this place. Used to come here in college all the time." Peter said taking his jacket off. Claire started to do the same thing but she ended up hitting Peter with one of her arms.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Peter." Claire said not even bothering to take off the other half of her jacket.

"I'm ok Claire." He said laughing.

"Well sorry." She repeated.

"Are you going to finish taking off your jacket?" Peter asked her, noticing that she still had one sleeve of the jacket on.

"Uh yeah." She said taking it off slowly, careful not to even touch Peter. Claire was wearing a semi-low cut pink shirt that left a little skin to be seen where her jeans started. Peter couldn't help but notice how hot she looked.

"So speaking of college years, I have to ask you something." Claire said.

Peter shook his head out of its Claire-stare. "Sure, go ahead." He said absentmindedly.

"There's this party me and my roommate Jen got invited to tonight, and I think you should come with me." Claire said, anxious to see what he would say in return. He had probably the worst response of all: silence.

"I mean I know you think that's stupid, sorry I even asked. Of course you don't want to go to a party with a stupid college freshmen." Claire ranted on and on… Peter had been saying her name to stop her but she didn't even hear him over her rambling. Finally he placed both of his hands over her hands.

"Claire!" he said a little loudly.

She was slightly out of breath "sorry." She said looking down.

"I really would go with you, but I have to work tonight." Peter said.

"Oh." Claire said feeling about as stupid as she had ever felt. "No problem."

"But seriously, ask me again the next party, because I want to go with you." Peter said, and then noticed his hands were still on top of hers. He took them off slowly realizing he probably shouldn't have done that.

"Yeah, of course." Claire said still feeling that her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

Peter's phone started ringing and he picked it up, muttering "sorry" to Claire right before he answered. After a few minutes of him sounding pissed, and arguing with whoever was on the phone he hung up.

"Look I'm really sorry, but I have to go. That was my work. My patient's daughter had to leave and now I need to go 'baby-sit'" peter said.

"That's fine." Claire said, although she definitely felt her stomach drop a little. She really wanted to hang out with Peter.

"I really am sorry." Peter said, because he also really wanted to hang out with Claire.

"Really Peter, I promise you it's fine. You should go." Claire said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, um call me later. Maybe tomorrow we can have lunch." Peter said.

"Yeah, I will. Now go." Claire said laughing as Peter got up putting his jacket on, and walked out of the café. For some reason Claire felt like she and Peter would never be friends… and definitely not lovers. It was probably just a one time, random run into a person on the street and catch up but then realize there's a reason you haven't seen that person in awhile, and you never talk to them again. Yeah that was probably going to happen to her and Peter.

Feeling defeated Claire grabbed her jacket and left the café, not even hungry anymore.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Peter got off work that night at 10:30 pm, and he drove back to his apartment. When he got inside he took off his shirt and practically collapsed onto his couch to watch TV, but then there was a knock at the door. For some reason he was really hoping it would be Claire… but it was Brooke.

"Hey Peter, whoa sexy shirt." Brooke said taking the initiative to walk into his apartment without asking.

"I'm not wearing…" he started, but then he understood her clever remark "Nice one." He said.

"I try." Brooke said smiling seductively, "god I haven't been in this apartment in forever" Brooke said sitting on the couch where Peter had just been laying.

"Yeah, I know." Peter said, sitting down next to her confused as to why she was at his apartment right now.

"I think the last time I was here, the two of us got drunk and watched like some weird nature show on the TV, and like tried to re-enact it." Brooke said.

"I'm pretty sure I was too drunk to remember that." Peter said smiling. College years sure were something.

"Sorry I just showed up like this. I just really miss you Peter." Brooke said slowly taking off her jacket to reveal a black lacy and very low-cut tank top.

"Yeah, I um miss you too." Peter said starting to feel a little uncomfortable for some reason.

"I thought you'd feel the same way." She said quietly crawling over to Peter and trailing her fingers lightly across his chest and then leaning up and pressing her lips into his.

Peter almost gave in but then he pulled away. For some reason, even with this hot girl all over him, the only girl that was in his mind at that moment was Claire.

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked him looking confused and upset… and ditzy.

"I just remembered I have to be somewhere." Peter said.

"Right." Brooke said, knowing that was just an excuse. "Well I'll just be going then."

Brooke said grabbing her jacket and quickly walking out of his apartment.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jen and Claire walked into the club that Jesse told them the party was at. Claire was wearing a jean skirt and a green polka dot halter, and Jen was wearing a skimpy black dress with pretty much the equivalent of stripper shoes. The club was blasting the song "We Fly High" and different colored strobe lights illuminated a ton of people grinding to the music.

"Girls! Hey!" Jesse yelled over the music, probably already on his fourth drink of the night.

"Hey, this is great." Jen yelled back to him.

"Yeah, we need to get you girls something to drink." Jesse said winking at Claire, who smiled back.

"Sounds good." Claire said.

A few… well a lot of drinks later Claire, Jesse, and Jen were in the middle of the dance floor dancing like crazy. The three of them were all kind of dancing together, but Jesse kept trying to cut in and grind with just Claire.

"Your really hot Claire." He said pulling her closer to him.

"Wow thanks." Claire said slurred "I really want to dance on the bar right now… oh my god, can I?" She asked him looking really excited.

"Claire maybe you shouldn't…" Jen said, knowing Claire would regret it the next morning.

"Hey if the girl wants to dance on the bar, then let her." Jesse said cutting Jen off.

"Fine, whatever." Jen said, pissed at Jesse.

"YEEESS!!" Claire screamed as Jesse helped her jump onto the counter. Claire started dancing with an invisible pole, and pretty soon there was a big group of guys huddled around all yelling things like "hey sexy" at Claire.

Peter walked into the club that he was pretty sure Claire would be at, because it was the same place most of his college parties were at. He looked around all the people trying to find Claire, and finally he looked up and saw her dancing on the bar, with what seemed like fifty guys all staring at her. He quickly walked over, because he was pretty sure this wasn't normal Claire behavior.

Claire continued dancing and playfully lifted her shirt a little to entice all the men watching her.

Peter pushed past a guy he didn't know, but who happened to be Jesse.

"Take it off baby." Jesse yelled at Claire.

"Hey shut the hell up man." Peter said turning on Jesse.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jesse asked him.

Peter ignored that question and stepped up to the bar.

"Claire, why don't you come down?" Peter asked her.

"Peter… what are you doing here silly?" She asked him smiling.

"Claire, just come down." Peter said. He did not like having all these men being able to see Claire like this.

"What's wrong?" She asked him leaning down but she ended up tripping and falling off the bar, luckily Peter caught her in his arms.

"Whoa there." Peter said holding on tight to her as he set her down on the ground. She stumbled a little as she got back to a standing position.

At this point all the guys basically wanted to beat Peter up for getting Claire off the bar.

"What's your problem man? She was having fun up there." Jesse said walking over to Peter and Claire. He looked ready to start a fight.

"She's drunk. She's doesn't need to be flashing all these guys." Peter said.

"Stop fighting you two." Claire said laughing "Oh hey Jen, this is Peter." Claire said as Jen walked over to all of them.

"Hey." Peter said, obviously more concerned with Claire right now.

"This is Jesse, Peter. He's the one that invited me and Jen to the party." Claire said stumbling as she shifted her weight. Peter put an arm around her to steady her.

"I'm taking her back to her dorm." Peter said.

"No, she's having fun." Jesse said grabbing one of Claire's hands.

"We probably should be getting back now." Jen said.

"Yeah, I actually don't feel very good." Claire said, feeling terrible all of the sudden.

"Will you let go of her now?" Peter asked Jesse, wanting to punch this guy so much right then but willing himself not to.

"Whatever." Jesse said letting go of Claire's hand. "I'll see you soon Claire." Jesse said leaning in close to say that to Claire and kissing her on the cheek making sure Peter saw.

"Thanks Jesse, bye." Claire said, not really understanding what was going on around her.

Peter HATED this Jessie guy.

"Come on Claire." Peter said starting to walk her out of the club, with Jen following behind the two of them.

"Ugh, I feel sooo sick." Claire whined.

"It's kind of a long walk back." Jen said to Peter.

"I can drive you guys back." Peter said.

"Um, that'd be great. I'll sit in the back with her and make sure she doesn't puke all over your car." Jen said.

"Great." Peter said trying to laugh a little, but he was still really pissed at Jesse.

Peter parked his car outside of Jen and Claire's dorm building when they got there.

"She's totally passed out back here." Jen said getting out of his car.

"I can carry her up." Peter said.

"Ok, sure." Jen said, "Just follow me,"

Peter climbed into the backseat to pick up Claire. She even looked hot when she was passed out drunk. But seeing her like this made Peter almost feel sick himself. He felt like all the guys at the club, and especially Jesse were taking advantage of Claire. He brushed some of the blonde hair off of her face and gently picked her up into his strong arms.

Claire made a small noise and shifted her head onto Peter's shoulder. He followed Jen up to their room and once they were inside he gently set Claire down on her bed.

"Thanks. You were a big help tonight." Jen said, "I don't think she gets drunk very often."

"Yeah, probably not." Peter said. "Listen um, could you tell her to call me tomorrow… I mean if she's feeling up to it." Peter said.

"Of course. It's Peter right?" Jen asked him.

"Yeah." Peter said taking one last look at Claire before heading out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday morning, the morning after the party, the sun spilled into Jen and Claire's dorm room. Claire opened her eyes slowly but quickly shut them when she realized that the light made her head feel like someone was banging a piece of wood on it. She had never been this hung-over in her life. Claire groaned as quietly as she could.

"Wow, you finally woke up." Jen said. She was doing something on her computer, but she stopped when she heard signs of life from Claire.

"Mhmm." Claire mumbled.

"You were hurting last night girlie." Jen said. "I had to hold your hair back while you threw up."

"I threw up?" Claire asked her.

"Yeah, three times." Jen said, "It's ok. I've had to do that for my friends a lot."

"What happened last night?" Claire asked Jen.

"Oh um, nothing much. Just some dancing on the bar… sex with Jesse." Jen said shrugging like it was no big deal.

"I had sex with Jesse?" Claire almost yelled sitting straight up, but immediately regretting it. So painful.

"No I'm just kidding." Jen said laughing hysterically "You should have seen your face though."

"Not funny." Claire said slowly laying back down into her warm bed.

"You did dance on the bar though." Jen said.

"God that's so embarrassing." Claire said.

"Don't worry Peter stopped by and saved you. He even brought you up here." Jen said.

"Peter saw me?" Claire asked Jen, life was just awful right now.

"Yeah… you really don't remember any of last night?" Jen asked her.

"Um, I remember getting to the club and dancing with Jesse a little, but that's about it." Claire said.

"Well Peter told me, to tell you to call him if you were feeling alright today." Jen said, just now remembering.

"Oh god, I don't think I can ever face him again." Claire said pressing a pillow over her face.

"This is what I think you should do. Get you lazy hung-over ass out of bed, take a shower, drink some coffee and go for a walk. The cool air will seriously work wonders." Jen said.

"I don't think I can get up." Claire said.

"I'll get you some coffee, just get up and take a shower." Jen said.

"Ok, I guess I'll try." Claire said.

"Oh my god wait… Claire… Peter is freaking HOT." Jen screamed.

"Ow, Jen, please keep the volume down." Claire said slowly sitting up right. It took a lot of effort.

"Sorry, but we definitely need to have more talks about Peter A.K.A hot sexy savior man." Jen said clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Ok, whatever. I'm just going to try and stand up now." Claire said… god life sucked right now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later Claire still had a really bad headache, but she felt up to taking a walk.

She put on loose fitting jeans and a soft black and red striped sweater. Jen was right the cool air actually did feel really good. She headed to a nearby park, but was soon stopped by Jesse.

"Hey Claire." Jesse said smiling at the kind of pathetic sight of her.

"Hi Jesse." Claire said smiling a little back at him. She was actually surprised he wanted to be seen with her after she probably looked like the biggest fool ever the night before.

"How are you?" He asked her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm doing better then this morning, that's for sure." Claire said tucking some of her frizzled hair behind her ear.

"You remember much from last night?" He asked her.

"Not really, no." Claire said making Jesse laugh. "It's not funny," she pouted.

"Aw, Claire, it's ok. You were pretty hot last night." Jesse said pulling her into a hug.

Hearing someone call Claire hot, made her feel really good. She wished Peter would think of her as hot, not… sweet.

"Thanks." She replied.

"We're going to have to teach you some partying lessons. Number one, don't get that drunk ever again… because if you do then you'll be too hung-over to party the next night." Jesse said.

"Good reasoning." Claire said a little sarcastically.

A little ways across the park, Peter was also taking a walk, when he saw Claire in Jesse's arms. Hell no was this ok with Peter. He walked over to Jesse and Claire.

"Oh my god." Claire said quietly to Jesse when she saw Peter walking over. She was so embarrassed, and did not want Peter to see her.

"What, you don't want to talk to him?" Jesse asked her.

"Um... not really." Claire said putting her head down.

"Hey Claire, I um need to talk to you about something." Peter said once he got over to them.

"Claire doesn't want to talk to you." Jesse said.

"Why don't you let Claire speak for herself?" Peter said, a certain male aggression seeping through his voice.

"Look, she just told me she doesn't want to talk to you right now. Maybe it had something to do with you ruining her fun last night."

"You can shut up now." Peter said, holding his fists at his side, despite how much he wanted to punch Jesse right in the eye.

"No I don't think so." Jesse responded.

"Stop it." Claire said loudly. What was wrong with these boys, especially Peter. Why was he being protective when it was obvious he didn't like her.

"Sorry." Jesse said to Claire. Peter rolled his eyes at how ridiculous this guy was.

"What do you need Peter?" Claire asked him.

"I have to show you something." Peter lied; he didn't really need to show her anything he just wanted to get her away from Jesse.

"Well maybe she doesn't want to go with you." Jesse said.

Peter sighed in frustration, not wanting to even respond to Jesse "will you come with me Claire?" He asked her.

Claire didn't want the boys to fight anymore. "Yeah, I guess." she answered.

"Fine." Jesse said "I'll call you later Claire, or you can call me when you get bored of this guy." Jesse said hugging Claire before he walked away.

"Finally…" Peter started but Claire cut him off angrily.

"What the hell was that about?" She asked him.

"He's an ass Claire." Peter said, confused why she was so mad at him.

"You were being one too." Claire said.

"Claire, your probably don't remember last night, but all that guy wants from you is sex." Peter said.

"Whoa Peter, care to enlighten me on how you know that?" She asked him.

"Look, you were really drunk and dancing on the bar, and all these guys were watching you and Jesse was telling you to take your top off." Peter said.

Claire felt her breath quicken for a moment.

"I got you off the bar before you did though." Peter said.

Claire searched for the right words to respond with. "Look Peter, I'm glad you did that or whatever, but… I just don't understand you. I mean you act like you're my boyfriend or something and we barely even know each other. I don't always need you to come to my rescue." Claire said, sounding a bit angrier then she had meant to.

Peter was really confused as to where all of this was coming from "I mean, I'm sorry." He said finally.

"Whatever, I need to go." Claire said starting to walk away but Peter grabbed her hand softly.

"Claire…" he started but then didn't know what to say next. In his heart he wanted to tell her that maybe he did want to be her boyfriend, but he wouldn't let his mind think that.

"I have to go." Claire said letting his hand go and walking away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours after the Jesse- Peter incident, Claire felt really bad about what she had said to Peter. If there was even a chance that Peter did like her, then that was certainly not the way to go about getting the two of them together. On impulse she rented a movie and bought some candy and headed over to Peter's apartment. She had to call Niki to ask where it was, which was awkward because a) she didn't really know Niki and b) she had to lie and say she was going over to Peter's to ask for help on homework.

She walked up to his apartment door and knocked on it. No answer. She was turning to leave but right as she started walking away Peter opened the door.

"Claire?" He said.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I just showed up like his, but I'm more sorry about what I said earlier, and I brought candy and a movie to bribe you to take my apology." She said.

"Of course I accept, I was never mad at you." Peter said, "Come in"

Claire smiled and walked into his apartment. Apart from in being a bit messy, it was a nice little apartment with hardwood floors, beige walls and lots of brown and black furniture.

"How did you get here?" He asked her.

"I had to call Niki." Claire said, hoping that didn't make her sound too desperate.

"Oh… Um look I'm sorry about earlier too. I have no right to tell you who to hang out with." Peter said.

For some reason now that Peter was apologizing, it made Claire sad, because that meant he probably wasn't jealous of her and Jesse.

"It's ok." Claire said. "So I brought Zoolander for us to watch." Claire said.

"Gotta love Will Ferrell." Peter said taking the DVD from her and putting it in the player.

Claire sat down on his couch and after he grabbed the remote Peter sat down next to her.

"God Peter, are you like from Alaska, its freaking freezing in here." Claire said.

"Sorry." He said "Here" he grabbed a blanket from behind him and placed it over him and Claire's legs. Claire was definitely glad she decided to apologize to Peter.

_There you have it. I hope you liked it, please review and tell me either way. I'll try to update in the next four or five days but it might be less cause I love writing this story… but reviews inspire me haha… I'll stop now. Thanks byyeeeee…_


	3. Weight Of The World

Chapter 3: Weight Of The World

_Hey guys, thank you so much for the reviews last time. I really appreciate them, and I totally understand all your questions inspire, and I'll try to start getting those answered in chapters to come. This chapter has a lot of stuff happening so I hope you guys like. Read and enjoy…_

Claire and Peter had been invited to go over to Niki and Dl's house for dinner on Tuesday night. It had been a couple days since Claire and Peter's "fight" and then "movie watching make-up", and the two of them had hung out everyday, starting to become very good friends. That night Claire chose to wear a polka dot dress to dinner, because she felt like getting dressed up for some reason.

When the two arrived at Niki and Dl's apartment it was 8:00, and Nathan, Hiro and Ando were already there. Apparently Matt was working so he couldn't make it, and Micah was getting ready to go to bed.

Once inside Peter helped Claire take her jacket off and the two of them walked into the living room.

"Can I please stay up for a little longer?" Micah asked her.

"Sorry, you have school tomorrow." Niki said.

"But I want to hang out with Claire and Peter." Micah whined.

"Hey Micah." Claire said kneeling down "How about this weekend you, me and Peter all go to the park together?" Claire asked him.

"Yes." He said excitedly.

"Ok good. I'm looking forward to it." She said.

"Me too, I guess I'll go to bed now." Micah said. "Goodnight everyone." Micah said

giving Claire a small hug before running off to his bedroom.

Peter had been smiling in admiration at Claire the whole time she talked to Micah.

"Sorry I signed you up for a play-date this Saturday." Claire said turning to Peter.

"That's fine. I don't think I'm busy." Peter said.

"Claire, this is Ando." Hiro said introducing his friend who wasn't there on Claire's first visit.

"Hi Ando." Claire said holding out her hand and he shook it smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Ando said.

"She is the cheerleader." Hiro said.

"Oh, yes, of course." Ando said.

"Hey guys, I think dinner's ready." Niki said "I have the table set in the dining room, if you guys want to come eat."

"Let's go. I'm starving." Peter said to everyone.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner people were sitting around talking and Claire ended up taking a tour of the flat with Niki.

"I love this dress Claire." Niki said.

"Thanks, I got it on sale." Claire replied.

"We should go shopping together sometime. I know the best places in New York." Niki said.

"Can I ask you something?" Claire asked Niki.

"Sure, go ahead." Niki said.

"Don't like tell anyone about this." Claire said trying to smile a little.

"No, of course not." Niki said, very curious as to what Claire was going to ask her.

"I think I might like Peter." Claire said quickly. Oh shit, she couldn't believe she had just said that.

Niki laughed a little "I had a feeling you might."

"What do I do about it, because it's driving me crazy." Claire said.

"Well, I think he might like you back Claire. However at least for the time being you two should probably just be friends." Niki said.

"It's torture." Claire whined.

"I know, but you'll live. Just wait and get to know him a little more. You know, don't take things too fast." Niki said placing her hands on Claire's shoulders.

In the living room Nathan and Peter were sitting alone talking.

"Nathan, I need to um ask your advice on something." Peter said.

"Ok, something wrong with work?" Nathan asked him.

"No, it's Claire. I think I like her." Peter said.

"Oh, um… well I'm not quite sure what to tell you." Nathan said.

"I know I shouldn't. I mean she's like ten years younger then me." Peter said.

"You can't help who you like though." Nathan said "but be careful with that one. She's in her first year of college; I think life is kind of crazy for her right now. It might be best if you stay friends… at least for awhile." Nathan said.

"Yeah, I know." Peter said, sighing because he was hoping Nathan would say something like 'oh great, you should just take her and kiss her tonight.'… Of course he didn't say that.

"Well thanks for your advice anyways." Peter said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner Claire went over to Peter's apartment to hang out. The two got inside and both took of their jackets.

"So Peter, I've never gotten the grand tour of your apartment." Claire said twirling around as she said 'grand tour'. Peter was wondering why Claire had to be so damn cute…

"Well it's not much. Basically your standing in the living room right now, that over there is the kitchen. And if you follow me I'll take you to the master bedroom." Peter said making Claire laugh. She followed him down the hall and into his bedroom, which was surprisingly clean. There wasn't any clothing on the floor, and hardly any trash anywhere.

"Peter, where are all your clothes?" Claire asked him "Most boys closets are actually their floors."

"I like to be a little organized." Peter said opening up his closet door to reveal a bunch of plain shirt on hangers, and a few button-down dress shirts.

"I must say I'm impressed." Claire said grabbing one of his dress shirts. "This one's sexy." Claire said taking it off the hanger.

"Did I say you could touch my clothes?" Peter asked her jokingly.

"Oh I'm sorry." Claire said acting all ditzy "Is this your favorite shirt or something?"

"No… I just don't appreciate you touching it and calling it 'sexy'" Peter said.

Claire started laughing uncontrollably for some reason.

"What's so funny Claire, this isn't a funny situation." Peter said walking over to her and starting to tickle her side. He loved her laugh.

"Stop, Oh my god Peter I can't breath." Claire said laughing.

"Give me my shirt back." He said still tickling her.

"Ok, alright." She could barely even say the words because she was so out of breath from him tickling her. She threw the shirt onto his shoulder and Peter stopped tickling her. Claire's breath was very quick and she was almost panting when she realized that Peter had his arms around her waist. Claire placed her hand on his chest, not sure if she was trying to push him away or trying to get closer to him. Peter leaned his head down towards her and their breathing seemed to melt together. Their lips were just inches apart when Peter's phone started to ring. The two immediately broke apart, as if they had just realized that they were about to kiss.

"Hello?" he said into the phone. A loud voice which Claire was pretty sure was Matt's could be heard.

"What, where?" Peter asked looking frantic.

"Yeah I'll be there right away." Peter said hanging up and not even knowing what to do.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked him.

"Um… Nathan's been in a car accident." Peter said walking out of the room to leave.

"Wait Peter…" Claire said, "Where are you going?"

"The hospital. Oh shit, I can't find my keys." Peter said running around his apartment.

"They're right here." Claire said picking them up off the kitchen counter.

"Oh great." He said.

"Peter, why don't you let me drive?" Claire asked him. She knew he was too emotional to drive right now.

"Yeah, ok. Let's go." He said

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When they got to the hospital, Peter left Claire to go talk to the doctors. Claire was waiting in one of the waiting rooms and a few minutes later she saw Peter walk into the waiting room. Peter looked so vulnerable when he walked up to Claire.

"How is Nathan?" She asked him.

Peter took in a deep breath "He's in surgery… Claire it's not good." He said.

Without thinking Claire leaned up and wrapped her arms around Peter's neck. She felt a lot of his weight collapse onto her. She felt him shaking, and wasn't sure if he was crying.

"They don't know if he's going to make it." He said quietly breathing onto her shoulder.

"Oh, Peter." Claire said hugging him tighter and he held onto her as tight as possible.

"Peter." A shrill voice said barging into the waiting room. Peter looked up from Claire's shoulder and saw that was … Brooke.

"Oh my god, is Nathan ok?" She asked him walking over to him and Claire, Brooke definitely did not like the sight of the two of them so close.

"No he's not… sorry Brooke what are you doing here?" Peter asked her.

"I saw the accident happen. I had to come check on you." Brooke said.

At this point Claire and Peter had pulled apart from their hug.

"Oh… um… well thanks for coming." Peter said.

"Of course." Brooke said hugging him, and Claire could've sworn she saw Brooke give her an evil eye when she was pulling away from the embrace.

"Is there anything I can do?" Brooke asked Peter.

"You should go. It's late and he's going to be in surgery for at least a few more hours." Peter said.

"Oh, um Ok. I can take Claire back if you need me too. It's probably past your bedtime right?" Brooke asked Claire, meaning it a little jokingly but it made Claire want to slap her.

"Actually, I think Claire was going to stay. She um, knows Nathan too." Peter said.

Inside Claire was as ecstatic as she could be in the current situation. Peter wanted Brooke to leave, but not her.

"Ok, Well look call me if you need anything." Brooke said smiling and then walking away. Brooke was pissed when she got outside the hospital. Claire needed to go down if she was ever going to be with Peter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple of hours later, Nathan was still in surgery. Niki, Hiro, Ando, and Matt were all at the hospital too. DL was at home with Micah.

Claire and Peter were sitting on the floor leaning against a wall. Both had been silent for a long time.

Peter muttered "shit" and Claire turned to him.

"Are you ok?" She asked him, and she could tell he was about to cry. Again Claire took him into her arms.

"It's ok Peter." She said rubbing his back. "If I could I would give Nathan my power right now." Claire whispered. The two hugged a little longer and then Peter pulled away, but he took one of her hands and held onto it tight.

"You can go if you want to." Peter said.

"I don't want to." Claire said, smiling warmly at him and giving his hand a little squeeze.

"Good, because I didn't really want you to go. I kind of need you here Claire." He said.

"But you can sleep if you want." He said.

Claire nodded her head and leaned against Peter's shoulder. Peter slowly slipped his arm around her, and Claire nuzzled into his side more, closing her eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A little later, both Claire and Peter had fallen asleep. Niki walked over to the two of them

and gently woke them up.

"Hey, you're brother's out of surgery." Niki said.

Peter immediately sat up right "Can I see him?" Peter asked her.

"They're not letting visitors in until tomorrow, but they're saying everything looks good right now." Niki said smiling.

Peter felt a weight of about 100 pounds being lifted off of him.

"You should go home and get some sleep." Niki said "It's 3:00 in the morning."

"Yeah, we probably should." Peter said standing up and holding out his hand to help Claire up.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, or I guess later today probably." Niki said.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Claire and Peter got back to his apartment Claire walked him up to his door.

"Thanks for driving me back." Peter said. He couldn't believe how great Claire had been today. In his eyes the girl was amazing.

"No problem." Claire said turning to go but Peter grabbed her hand and gently pulled her towards him. He placed both his hands lightly on her waist.

"And thank you for everything today. You were amazing Claire." He said softly.

"Of course Peter. I wanted to be there for you." Claire said.

Peter moved his hands from her waist to around her back and pulled her into a hug. When he pulled away he kissed her gently on the cheek and rubbed his thumb along her hand as he let it go.

"I'll call you when I visit Nathan." Peter said.

"Ok bye." She smiled and walked back to her car.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Claire got back to her apartment and tried to get some sleep, but after she had gotten a few hours she couldn't sleep anymore for some reason. When she looked at the clock it was 2:00 in the afternoon, and she realized that she was starving. Still wearing sweatpants and a plain white long sleeved shirt Claire put her hair into a ponytail and headed out to get some lunch. She walked to the same café that she was going to get breakfast with Peter that one morning, but she had ended up not eating anything.

When she got inside she walked up to the counter where you ordered your food.

Jesse saw Claire from out on the street, and he decided to go in and say hello.

"Claire, long time no see." He said walking over and giving her a hug.

"Oh, hey Jesse." Claire said… not sure how she felt about him ever since Peter had told her that Jesse had tried to get her to flash a bunch of guys on the bar when she was drunk.

"What's up? I've called you a bunch lately and you haven't answered." Jesse said.

"Yeah, sorry. Last night Peter's brother got into a car accident and I stayed at the hospital with Peter." Claire said.

"Oh." Was all that Jesse could say. Of course Claire had been with Peter the whole time. This Peter guy was driving him crazy.

"Sorry, I just haven't really been around my phone." Claire said… Jesse was being kind of weird.

"Well, Listen. It's sounds like you deserve to have some fun tonight." Jesse said.

Out of the corner of Claire's eye she saw Brooke walk into the café… ugh…

"Claire? Are you listening?" Jesse asked her, she had obviously been preoccupied with Brooke.

"Um, sorry. Yeah." Claire said.

"Do you want to get some dinner with me tonight?" Jesse asked her, as Brooke came up and stood behind the two of them in the line to get food.

"Um thanks for the offer, but I might be going to visit Peter's brother with him tonight." Claire said.

"Come on Claire, you stayed up all night for Peter last night, now you should do something you want to do." Jesse said.

"I did want to stay with Peter." Claire said a little bitchily.

"Oh, alright. Sorry." Jesse said, hearing her tone.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just really tired." Claire said.

"I should probably get going. Call me if you change your mind." Jesse said, not even saying bye as he walked away.

Claire sighed… why did he have to play the guilt card?

Brooke had been watching this whole ordeal and she quickly followed Jesse out of the café.

"Hey, umm… hot guy." She yelled, not knowing what his name was.

Naturally Jesse turned around "Do I know you?" He asked her.

"I'm Brooke. Um sorry for being creepy but I saw you talking to that girl Claire inside." Brooke said.

"Yeah." Jesse said, feeling really creeped out.

"I know the guy that she's been hanging out with… Peter. See I sort of really like him and Claire is totally getting in the way." Brooke said.

"I don't know what you want me to do." Jesse said. This Brooke chick was crazy… hot but crazy.

"Do you like Claire?" Brooke asked him.

"Yeah." He hesitated and answered.

"Well I like Peter, and you like Claire and it seems like Claire and Peter like each other." Brooke said, "I think we should do something about it."

All the sudden Jesse was liking this Brooke girl. "Right, what did you have in mind?"

"Well…."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night Claire and Peter went to visit Nathan who was… good for his condition. He would probably be in the hospital for at least a couple of weeks, but he was luckily in pretty good shape considering that he almost died.

When Claire and Peter left the hospital it had started to rain. They ran to Peter's car, but still managed to get pretty wet considering that it was pouring.

Peter parked the car outside his apartment…he and Claire were going to watch a movie that night. They ran up to his apartment but got soaking wet again.

Peter turned on the lights in his apartment.

"Oh my god, it is so freezing cold in here." Claire said crossing her arms to try and keep warm.

"I'm going to go change into some nice warm clothes." Peter said taunting Claire, because he knew she didn't have any dry clothes.

Claire gave him a mean look.

"Fine." Claire said, suddenly smiling suspiciously at him.

Peter laughed and went off to change. While he was changing Claire grabbed a glass off the counter and filled it with water from the sink. Peter came back out a few seconds later.

"Oh I'm so warm." Peter said smiling at Claire.

"I'll bet." Claire said smiling back. "Come here, I have something to tell you." Claire said seductively, she had the water behind her back.

"Ok." Peter said slowly walking over to her.

"Just kidding!" she shouted and poured the glass of water of Peter's head.

Claire was laughing, while Peter stood in shock.

"You know, I was going to offer you a shirt to change into, but that's just not going to happen now." Peter said shaking his head.

"Aw come on Peter. I'm so cold." Claire whined.

"Nope." Peter said starting to walk back to his room "Now if you'll excuse me I need to go change again."

Claire ran after him and into his room. He had already taken his wet shirt off.

"Can I wear this shirt?" She asked him picking out the dress shirt she had called sexy before.

"Absolutely not." Peter said snatching it out of her hands.

"Peter, you're going to give me that shirt." Claire said jumping for it but he held it away from her.

"What will you do for it Claire?" He asked her smiling, loving to see her beg for it.

Claire got an idea. She walked over to Peter, smiling sweetly and pushed him down onto his bed so that he was sitting. Then she straddled his lap and trailed her fingers across his bare chest, making Peter's whole body tingle. No, he couldn't lose focus.

"Won't work." Peter said, even though every time she touched him he was pretty sure that might not be so true.

"No?" She asked him. Claire ran her hands down Peter's muscular arms and onto his chest. She leaned her head towards his and made sure her breath hit his lips. Peter dropped the shirt and slipped his hands around Claire's waist, but Claire maintained control and grabbed the shirt immediately, and jumped off of Peter leaving him dazed and confused.

"Ha-ha, I win." Claire said smiling.

"I don't know… I had it pretty easy." Peter said standing up.

"Well I'm going to change." Claire said. She went into the bathroom and decided she would just leave her jeans on. She took off her soaking wet top and cursed herself for wearing a black bra because Peter's shirt was white. She buttoned it up and walked back into his bedroom.

The shirt was definitely sexy on her from Peter's point of view.

"Are you blushing Peter Petrelli?" Claire asked him.

"No." He said quickly, even though he probably had been.

"Are we going to watch the movie or what?" She asked him, while walking towards the door.

"Wait." Peter said.

"What?" Claire asked him stopping in her tracks.

Peter walked over to Claire and took her head in his hands. He pulled her face up to his and pressed his lips against hers. After a second he pulled away and slid his hands off her face. Claire's eyes met his.

"Sorry" He said. He had been expecting her to kiss him back but she didn't.

"Um, no it's just…" Claire sat down on Peter's bed, trailing off at the end of her sentence.

"What?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

Claire laughed a little to herself "I don't know." She said as her eyes met his.

"I'm just stupid." Peter said.

"No, Peter really… I want to kiss you too." Claire said. She placed her hand on Peter's thigh. "I didn't think that you liked me."

"Are you kidding Claire? I've liked you basically since I ran into you on the street." Peter said.

Claire smiled gently at him. She moved her hand up to Peter's shoulder and turned him towards her. The two leaned their faces towards each other, feeling their breath intertwine. Claire closed the gap between them and placed her lips on his. Peter traced his tongue across her bottom lip and Claire let it enter into her mouth. He was a bit more of an experienced kisser then Claire. Peter leaned his body into Claire's so that she was forced to lean back onto the bed. They pulled apart from their kiss as Peter re-positioned himself on top of Claire.

He moved down and unbuttoned one of the buttons on his shirt that Claire was wearing. He kissed her neck and Claire nuzzled her face into his warm skin. Claire wanted to kiss him again; she had never wanted to stop. She took her hand and tilted his face towards hers. She leaned up and kissed his lips and Peter smiled. Peter started to unbutton her shirt slowly button by button. He was trying not to move too fast considering this was their first time kissing/making out. Claire's shirt was half unbuttoned down and Peter slipped his hand inside and explored her skin. He stopped kissing her for a second.

"What's wrong?" She asked him out of breath.

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok with… all of this." He said tracing circles across her stomach gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said smiling and pulling his face towards hers again. Peter moved his hand down to her thigh squeezing gently. Whoa Claire thought, maybe they should slow down a little.

"Um, Peter?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." He said trailing kisses across her collarbone.

"Maybe we should stop." Claire said uncomfortably.

"Oh ok." Peter said nicely, even though it did bum him out. He rolled off of Claire so that he was lying next to her on the bed.

The two let a silence enter the room.

"Sorry." Claire muttered, placing a pillow over her face. No wonder everyone thought she was so young, she couldn't even properly make out with a guy.

Peter started laughing from his side of the bed "Claire, take the pillow off of your face."

"Why?" she asked him, her voice muffled from the pillow.

"Because I want to see your pretty face." Peter said.

Claire removed the pillow "That was so cheesy Peter." Claire said not being able to help the smile that spread across her face.

"But it got you to smile." Peter said. Peter scooted closer to Claire and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "Don't worry about it Claire."

"I just feel stupid." She pouted.

"Please don't. We need to take things slow. There will be plenty of times for doing this." Peter said.

"Can I wear this shirt every time we do?" Claire asked him.

"No." peter answered just now noticing that it was almost completely unbuttoned.

"Why not?" she asked him, fakely offended.

"Because it takes too long to unbutton." Peter said.

"Perv." Claire joked.

"You know you love it." Peter said. He couldn't really stand to look at Claire's breasts in the tight black bra without wanting to make love to her that minute so Peter started to button up Claire's shirt.

Claire watched him as he did. She grinned, "You are really hot Petrelli." She said.

"Well thanks." He said just finishing the last button before he leaned down and kissed her. "You're not so bad yourself."

_So their first kiss… next chapter is going to have Micah's play date with Peter and Claire, and the Jesse Brooke stuff is going to be further developed and im not sure what else is going to happen, anyways review if you'd like to. Thanks, bye…_


	4. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

Chapter 4: Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

_Hey guys, first I just want to say thank you SO much for the reviews they are soo nice. Keep that up haha. I hope you like this chapter, its kinda short compared to my others but its got a lot of Claire and Peter and a little bit of scheming haha. Also I really tried to do the space bar thing to separate scenes but my computer is so stupid and it doesn't work. But the X's mean a break between scenes. Sorry about that. Anyways read and enjoy…_

Claire was in her dorm room on Saturday getting dressed. She had a "play date" with Micah and Peter and she was very excited. She dressed herself in dark jeans and a mixed print long sleeve shirt. She pulled her curls back into a ponytail and started putting on mascara when Jen walked in.

"And just where were you last night little miss?" Claire asked Jen turning around to see her in the same clothes she had been wearing the day before.

"Nowhere special." Jen said flopping onto her bed.

"With a guy?" Claire asked, pretending to be shocked.

"Maybe." Jen said dismissively.

"At least tell me if he was hot." Claire said smiling in a pleading way over at Jen.

Jen looked over at Claire and nodded her head intensely as the two started laughing together.

"Well I have news for you Jen." Claire said clapping her hands together in excitement.

"What?" Jen asked sitting up a bit more, and giving Claire a peculiar look.

"Peter and I made out." Claire blurted out, smiling and waiting to see Jen's reaction.

"Oh My God! Shut up girl." Jen said practically jumping off the bed.

Claire just nodded her head in response.

"I knew it would happen sooner or later… ok well tell me all about it." Jen said placing a hand on Claire's knee to get her to talk.

"He kissed me first." Claire started and Jen squealed in delight "but then I kind of freaked, and he was all cute and sweet and I grabbed him and kissed him and then we just made out for awhile." Claire said.

"No sex?" Jen asked surprised… well actually it was Claire.

"No Jen." Claire said rolling her eyes, and going back to put more make-up on.

"Just making sure." Jen said. "Was he a good kisser?"

"Yes!" Claire almost screamed "sooo good."

"Aw, I'm so excited for you Claire." Jen said "Are you going out with him right now?"

"Yeah, well we're kind of babysitting, but then I'm going over to his apartment." Claire said finishing putting on her lip-gloss.

"Spending the night?" Jen asked her seductively.

"I don't know." Claire answered, innocence oozing from her voice.

"Well have fun… and make good choices." Jen said jokingly.

"Thanks mom" Claire joked back "what would I do without you?"

"I honestly don't know." Jen said laughing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter and Claire picked Micah up and headed to a small park that was near where Claire's dorm building was.

Peter kept starting over at Claire thinking about how hot she looked, and about how ever since they had made out a few nights ago all he had been wanting to do was make out with her again. He was hoping their "play date" wouldn't last too long because Claire was coming over to his apartment afterwards.

"What do you want to do Micah?" Claire asked him leaning down so that she was eye-level with him.

Micah held up his hand, which was holding a yellow Frisbee in it.

"Oh no, I'm so terrible with a Frisbee." Claire said frowning playfully.

"Aw, come on Claire." Peter said slipping his arm loosely around her and whispering, "It'll be fun" a bit sexually into her ear.

Claire looked over at Micah who was giving the two of them a suspicious look.

Claire gave up "Ok, I guess I'll try." Claire slipped away from Peter.

"Yes!" Micah said happily running over to an open grassy area.

Claire took Peter's hand and pulled him back a little bit.

"Hey, I don't want Micah getting any ideas about the two of us." Claire said looking at Peter a bit seriously.

"Ok" He said laughing a little "I'll try my best not to touch you I guess"

"Shut up" Claire said hitting him playfully "you don't have to be so dramatic."

"Are you two coming or what?" Micah yelled over to them.

Claire gave Peter a look before walking off towards Micah.

"God stop being so damn cute Claire." Peter said while following her.

Claire felt his eyes watching her so she swayed her hips extra when she walked and turned to wink at Peter.

"Alright, come on Micah. Throw me the Frisbee." Claire said figuring she would have to do it at some point.

Micah flung the Frisbee towards Claire, in what was a pretty good throw. Claire ran to catch it but when it got close to her she hesitated and let it fly past her hitting the ground a few feet away.

"Oh, wow, nice catch Claire." Peter said sarcastically.

Claire squinted her eyes at him and frowned as she picked up the Frisbee. She tried to fling the Frisbee towards him but it ended up going straight to the ground about half of the distance to Peter.

"Wow, she can throw too." Peter joked running to get the Frisbee.

"Watch it Perelli." Claire said placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't be mean to Claire." Micah said to Peter.

"Aw thanks Micah. At least one of the boys here is mature." Claire joked straight to Peter.

"Well at least I can throw a Frisbee." Peter said raising his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

Claire shrugged "hey, I'm just a cheerleader."

"Can we get some ice cream?" Micah asked suddenly.

"You don't want to play Frisbee anymore?" Claire asked Micah confused.

"You two make it too complicated." Micah said.

Peter and Claire exchanged glances with each other and both laughed a little to themselves.

"Yeah, it's true. Come on we'll get some ice cream." Peter said pushing Micah playfully ahead of him.

The three of them got to an ice cream stand and the slightly creepy man working there asked them what they wanted. Micah stepped up and ordered a rocky road.

"And I'll have a chocolate cone." Peter said.

"For the pretty lady?" the creepy vendor asked eying Claire. Peter immediately felt a bit protective over Claire.

"Oh, I don't think I want anything." Claire replied sweetly.

"You sure Claire?" Peter asked her.

"Yeah, it's too cold out here." Claire said.

"Oh, you're such a Texan." Peter said handing the vendor a five-dollar bill "You can keep the change." He said dismissively not really wanting to deal with this guy anymore.

"Can't help where I'm born." Claire shrugged.

Micah ran ahead of Claire and Peter on the sidewalk.

"So that guy was kind of creepy." Claire said linking arms with Peter.

"Yeah… hey now what's this business with touching me now?" Peter asked her.

"I'm just being friendly." Claire said pushing Peter a little with her hips.

"Want some?" Peter asked her holding the ice cream in front of her face.

"Sure." She replied leaning in to take a bite of the ice cream but right as she did Peter pulled the ice cream away and kissed her quickly.

"Peter." Claire said checking to make sure Micah didn't see that little encounter.

Peter laughed, "I meant did you want some of me, not the ice cream."

"Oh well aren't you the clever one." Claire said.

"Yes I am. So how much longer do you think it will be until we can leave?" Peter asked quietly.

"I don't know, but maybe we should catch up with Micah." Claire raised her eyebrows at Peter and ran up to Micah who was just taking the last bite of his ice cream.

"What else should we do today Micah?" Claire asked him once she had caught up to him.

"I don't care. I'm kind of tired though." Micah replied.

"Really? Well we can take you home if you're really tired." Claire said.

"Um, ok. Yeah I just got really tired all of the sudden." Micah said rubbing his eyes with his hands, a classic tired gesture.

Inside Peter was happy because he couldn't wait to get back to his apartment with Claire.

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Brooke and Jesse had agreed to meet at a pizza place to talk about their plan to get Claire and Peter.

Brooke walked into the restaurant with an air of superiority. She saw Jesse sitting at a table by himself.

"Hello." She said dropping her purse and sitting across the high table from him.

"Hi Brooke, good to see you again." Jesse said back.

"Oh, well you too." She said.

"Are you hungry?" HE asked her.

"Um, actually Jesse I kind of just want to get to the point here." Brooke said rolling her eyes.

"Ok." Jesse leaned back in his chair. This Brooke girl was a bit of a bitch.

"So I've been thinking about what we should do. If we can get Claire to think that Peter and I slept together then she'll be crushed and you'll be there to catch her when she falls." Brooke said.

"What if Claire doesn't believe that you two slept together?" Jesse asked Brooke, skeptical to this plan.

"You'll take her somewhere where you know Peter and I will be. When you get there I'll kiss Peter and she'll see it." Brooke said smiling at the brilliance of her plan.

"You really think this is going to work?" Jesse asked her.

"Claire is young and fragile so… yeah I'm almost positive it will work. Are you in?" Brooke asked him.

"Yeah, why not." Jesse said shrugging.

"Great. So here's how it's going to work…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire and Peter dropped Micah off at his flat and headed back to Peter's apartment.

Claire walked in and kicked her flats off by Peter's doorway. Peter was busy taking his jacket off while Claire ran and jumped onto Peter's couch and turned on the TV. Of course Peter's heart sank a little when he heard the sound of a commercial for baby shampoo. Claire just wanted to watch the TV… He walked over and sat down closely next to Claire.

"What are we watching?" He asked her.

Claire looked over grinning at him "Does it matter?"

Peter was confused "I mean… yeah." He started but Claire leaned towards Peter and kissed his lips.

"You're right. It doesn't matter." He said pulling her head towards his and kissing her again. Claire pulled Peter down so that he was on top of her on the couch. She started tugging at his shirt to come off and he stopped kissing her momentarily so he could get it completely off. Claire ran her hands across Peter's bare chest, completely loving it.

"Wait, I really need to turn the TV off." Peter said reaching under Claire's leg to get the remote.

Claire looked over at the TV and saw that Oprah was on. It wasn't long before she burst out laughing, "What, Oprah doesn't turn you on?" She asked him like he was crazy.

Peter clicked the off button, "no." He replied letting eyes linger back to Claire who was still laughing at him.

"But you do." He said gazing at her.

"I try." She smiled and started to take her shirt off.

Peter placed his hands over Claire's to stop her "Maybe we should slow down." Peter said. He wasn't sure if he would be able to control himself once Claire's top was off.

"Maybe we should have sex." Claire said back. Peter was silent in his response.

"Or not." Claire said sitting up a little. Peter probably didn't want to have sex with her because she was too young, and innocent. Claire sighed and took her hair out of its ponytail holder letting her curls fall around her shoulders.

"Claire." Peter said, gently pushing away some of her hair and kissing her neck lightly "Believe me, I want to." He said.

"Ok, so, I do too. What's the problem here?" She asked him frustrated.

"I mean, you are a virgin right?" He asked awkwardly.

Claire sighed "yes."

"I just want to make sure your ready." Peter said placing his hands over her face so that she would have to look at him.

"Peter." Claire said like she was talking to a clueless five year old. She placed her hands on Peter's face too so that they were almost mirroring each other "I've been ready. And I want my first time to be with you."

"You're sure?" Peter asked her one last time.

"Positive." She nodded her head.

Peter pulled her face towards his and kissed her with a certain new fire. It was like he had been holding that back until he was sure that she wanted to have sex. He stood up "Come on" he held out his hand. Claire took it and followed him back to his room. This was kind of awkward though. She was hoping they could've just done it on the couch in their brief heat of passion instead of having to start over again.

"It probably would've been a little uncomfortable on the couch." Peter said almost reading her thoughts.

"It's fine." Claire said sitting down on his bed.

Peter turned the lights off and slinked over to her. He kissed her gently on the lips. He ran his hands over her stomach and this time he took her shirt off. God she looked hot.

Claire bit her lip as she saw Peter staring at her boobs. Her "cool and seductive" barrier was breaking down at this point.

Peter pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I'll be gentle." He reassured her.

Claire smiled and unhooked her bra clasp. She threw it across the room, for some reason all of her troubles and worries were melting away. She lied back on his bed taking Peter's hands.

"Come here Petrelli." She said happily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire opened her eyes and was startled for a moment because she was in Peter's bed.

She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 8:00 at night. Their little sex fest had started in the late afternoon and she must've fallen asleep. She looked at Peter who was asleep facing the other way. Claire got out of bed feeling weird that she was naked. She slipped on some underwear and found the infamous button down shirt of Peter's and put that on.

She padded out into the kitchen. Claire was ecstatic to say the least. Peter was basically perfect and he made her first time great.

Claire saw what must've been that day's paper and she was leaning over to reach it when she felt Peter's arms snake around her waist startling her a little.

"Oh, you scared me." Claire said turning around in his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry. I see your wearing my favorite shirt." He said running his hands up the inside of the shirt onto Claire's stomach.

"Yeah, hope you don't mind." Claire said innocently.

"Of course not." Peter said pulling Claire up and kissing her. Claire slipped away from him and grabbed the paper again. She walked over to the couch and sat down to read it.

"You hungry?" Peter asked her scanning his fridge, which had nothing in it.

"Yeah, starving." Claire replied, intently reading an article.

"Well, we're going to have to go out or order…" Peter started but stopped when he heard Claire yell "holy shit."

"What?" he asked quickly walking over to her.

"Oh my god Peter. There's been a murder in New York. The way they described the death. It sounds just like Sylar." Claire said turning wide-eyed to Peter. Peter could see the fear in Claire's eyes clearly.

He grabbed the article from Claire and skimmed over it. Once he was finished he crumpled up the paper and threw it to the floor.

"Damn it." Peter said with an air of frustration. It did seem pretty clear that Sylar had committed this murder. Peter looked over at Claire who was staring down at the ground.

"You ok Claire?" Peter asked her.

"Um, yeah." Claire said still looking down.

Peter sensed that Claire wasn't ok though "Claire look at me." Peter said

Claire raised her head up slowly and she almost had tears in her eyes.

"Claire, it's going to be alright." Peter wrapped his arms around her. Claire buried her head into his warm skin and let her body weight go limp onto him. Peter slowly stroked Claire's hair. "You know, we'll call everyone else and I'll make sure you're safe." Peter said.

"Well what about you, or anyone else for that matter? Basically we're screwed Peter." Claire said angrily.

"I have an idea actually." Peter said.

Claire sat up a little "what is it?"

"I don't really want to do it, but it could be helpful."

"Peter tell me." Claire said intrigued.

"There's this painter. His name is Isaac Mendez and he can paint the future. Actually he um helped me find you when I had to save you." Peter said.

"I'm grateful to him then." Claire said.

"Well, he's not really my favorite person in the world. I used to date this girl Simone, and um… he used to date her too but they're together now so it's kind of weird." Peter said.

"Do you still like Simone?" Claire asked quietly.

"I mean, yeah. But you don't need to worry Claire because I could never be with her. It just doesn't work for us. Besides I like you way more then I ever liked her." Peter said.

"Ok, so then what's the problem?" Claire asked him.

"I don't know. It's just awkward. But I need to see if he's painted anything recently that could warn us about Sylar." Peter said.

"Well I'll go see him with you." Claire said smiling a little "Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah." Peter nodded his head confidently.

Claire sighed, "I just don't want to have to deal with any of this. I was going to go to college and live a normal life, but now I'm here with you and afraid that any second a crazy killer is going to pop through the door and take my 'powers.'" Claire said all at once.

"Well I don't care if this is selfish, but I'm glad you're here with me Claire. You're an amazing girl." Peter said trailing his fingers across her cheeks.

"Thank you." Claire said smiling.

Peter placed his hands on Claire's knees "Listen for the time being, just try and keep your mind off of Sylar." Peter said.

"How??" Claire whined.

"Well… try this." Peter said leaning in and kissing Claire. She pulled away and laughed.

"True, that does work. However I am really hungry." Claire said placing a finger over Peter's lips when he tried to kiss her again.

"Can we order in?" Peter asked her.

"I suppose." Claire replied.

"Good." Peter said running his hands up Claire's arms, " Because I do not want you to change out of that shirt. You look too sexy in it."

Claire loved it when Peter called her sexy "Thanks… Now get me some pizza or something."

_Hope you liked, next chapter will have Isaac, more Jesse/Brooke being evil, possible some Sylar. I don't know I'll try to make it dramatic for you guys. Um obvi Simone didn't die or whatever so don't be confused about that is she's like alive in the next chapter haha, but please review. Thanks Bye!_


	5. Everything Hits At Once

Chapter 5 Everything Hits At Once

_Hey guys, first thank you very much for your reviews, and Inspire its funny because I'm like the exact opposite about you with the dialogue stuff, like its so hard for me to write other stuff haha but I'm glad you all still like my story. Sorry again about the scene spacing problem… Um just a note Simone isn't dead… This chapter is long and dramatic so please read and enjoy…_

Claire and Jesse were walking out of their English class together. It was the day after Claire's sex with Peter, and Claire was just so happy that she felt she didn't really care much about Jesse. It had pissed her off when Peter told her that Jesse was one of the guys that was trying to get her to take her top off when she was drunk and dancing on the bar, but she figured she'd try and just be friends with him at least.

"So, should we go get something to eat?" Jesse asked her.

"Um, sure. I think I can do that." Claire said opening the door that led out of the English building. Claire crossed her arms when the cold air hit her body.

"Great. I should probably stop by my apartment and get some money." Jesse said

Following right behind Claire. "It's just right around the corner if you want to come." He said.

"Ok, you know I can pay though." Claire suggested.

"No, Claire. I'm paying." He said touching her arm lightly.

"Ok, if you insist." Claire said. She looked over her shoulder and did a double take when she saw Peter walking towards her.

"Peter?" Claire said. "What are you doing here?" she asked a smile spreading across her face.

Jesse got a fiery feeling inside of him, no way was Peter going to ruin this night for him and Claire.

"I was just waiting for you to get out of class, because I thought we could go get something to eat." Peter said, deliberately not making eye contact with Jesse.

"Actually man, we were just about to go out to eat, but maybe she can another time." Jesse said patting Peter lightly on the arm, the way a father would to his child and it made Peter want to punch him.

"I thought we could stop by Isaac's on the way to dinner." Peter said casually, but looking at Claire a bit intensely when he said it.

"Oh." Claire said getting it. She turned to Jesse who was looking all confident and cocky that Claire was going to choose him over Peter "Jesse, look I'm sorry but I think I should go with Peter." Claire said, thinking that even if Peter hadn't revealed that they were going to see Isaac she would've gone with him anyways.

"You keep ditching me for Peter." Jesse said, acting fake hurt, but he was pretty pissed this was happening at the moment.

"I know, and we can go get lunch tomorrow before class or something." Claire said. Peter slipped a protective arm around Claire.

Jesse locked eyes with Peter, tension was filling the air. "Alright." He said giving up.

"I'll call you tomorrow Claire." Jesse said turning and walking away.

Claire turned to Peter, looking at him a bit angrily.

"Do you have to be so..." Claire struggled to find the word "rude?"

"Claire, I hate that guy." Peter said looking at her in a pleading way that was almost asking her to just agree with him.

"Oh he's not that bad. I'm trying to just be friends with him." Claire said.

"Ok, I'm just telling you I get a bad feeling when I'm around him." Peter said.

"I'll be careful." Claire said taking Peter's hands into hers.

Peter took in a deep breath and sighed, "Ok." He said finally.

"Ok." Claire said back smiling. "Shall we go now?" She asked him.

"Wait." He said holding her in place "I haven't even gotten to say hello yet." Peter said tilting Claire's chin up towards him and kissing her lightly. The kind of kiss that made Claire feel like she couldn't stand because her knees were melting away.

"I love it when you say hello to me." Claire said once they pulled away.

Peter laughed lightly "Come on. My car's parked around the corner." Peter said.

Claire climbed into Peter's car once they got there and Peter went in on the other side.

"So, does Jesse know that we're together now?" Peter asked her starting the car.

Claire raised her eyebrows at Peter "Are we 'together'?" She asked him air quoting the together part.

Peter placed his hand on her thigh "What do you think?"

"I want to be if you do." She replied.

"Good, then we are." He said sliding his hand off her leg and back to the steering wheel.

"Well to answer your question, no Jesse does not know that we're together." Claire said smiling happily. She loved the sound of saying that her and Peter were together.

Peter grunted in response.

"So… Are you nervous to see Isaac and Simone?" Claire asked him trying to change the subject that Peter seemed so touchy on.

"Not nervous really, just… anxious I guess." He said concentrating on the road.

"I'm sure it will be fine. We'll just go in, see if he's painted anything and then leave." Claire said.

"Yeah, listen I want to take you to dinner tomorrow night." Peter said.

"I thought we were going to dinner tonight." Claire said looking over at Peter confused.

"We are, but I mean I want to take you to a nice dinner. You know you can get dressed up and we can go someplace really nice. I made some extra money today, my patient's son says I'm doing a really good job with him and he gave me a tip of gratitude." Peter said.

"Well don't be retarded and spend that money on me Peter." Claire said hitting him on the arm.

"Claire." Peter said laughing "I want to spend it on you."

Claire looked down at her lap and smiled, could this guy get any better. "Ok. Tomorrow night then." She said setting the date.

"Good." Peter said "And tell Jennifer that you're spending the night out tomorrow night."

Claire laughed, "I will, but I can't tonight. I really need to start my English paper."

"Ok that's fine." Peter said "I can give you some writing tips if you do it at my place though."

"Peter! We're not having a relationship purely based on sex." Claire said.

"That's not what I meant… well ok maybe it was. But honestly Claire I just like being around you." Peter said looking over at her briefly.

"Well thank you, but I think I should stay in my dorm tonight." Claire said.

"Ok, well we're here." Peter said pulling his car into an empty parking space. He turned the car off.

"You ready?" She asked him.

"I guess so." Peter said. "Let's go."

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Peter knocked on the door to Isaac's apartment. Claire and Peter were standing in the hallway in silence waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Maybe he's not home." Claire said after a few second with no answer.

"Yeah, maybe." Peter said knocking again. Finally the two of them heard movement behind the door. Suddenly the door swung open and there stood Isaac Mendez. He was wearing a classic white wife beater and his hair was that same scraggly yet somehow clean wave that it always was.

He looked like he had just seen a ghost when he saw Peter, but quickly recovered.

"Peter Petrelli." He said low and confidently "What brings you here?"

"Isaac, I think that Sylar might be in New York. Look I'm sorry to bother you, but I just really need to know if you've painted anything recently." Peter said.

Isaac looked at Peter and then at the young and pretty blonde girl standing next to him.

"Come in." Isaac said finally opening up his door to Peter and Claire who walked in behind him.

The apartment was dark, but noticeably cleaner. There weren't paintings everywhere like the last time Peter had been in Isaac's apartment.

"Sit down." Isaac said holding out his hand in the direction of a sitting area.

"Thanks." Peter said sitting down in a chair next to Claire.

"I don't believe we've met." Isaac said looking directly at Claire.

"I'm Claire." She said.

"Isaac, nice you meet you." He said holding out his hand and Claire shook it.

"This is the cheerleader… you know from awhile back." Peter said.

"Oh, right. I thought you looked a bit familiar." Isaac said.

Claire tried to laugh a little, but it just came out sounding awkward and put even more tension into the room.

"So do you have any paintings that might be connected to Sylar?" Peter asked him breaking the silence.

"Peter, if I had any I would've said something about it. No I don't have any." Isaac said a bit coldly. He felt that Peter was very rude to just come to his apartment only to see if he had painting anything new.

"Alright, sorry." Peter said.

"I actually haven't painted very much lately." Isaac said, "However I think I have something that might be of interest to you." Isaac got up and walked out of the room.

Claire looked over at Peter who looked very uncomfortable. She reached over and squeezed his hand gently. Isaac walked back in and looked between Claire and Peter, as Claire quickly took her hand off of Peter's and leaned back into her chair.

"I have this painting, and I think Claire is in it." Isaac said putting the painting down on the coffee table in front of Claire and Peter.

Claire scanned it and saw that it was her holding hands with a guy and walking into a doorway that had the number 347 on it.

"Does this mean anything?" Isaac asked them.

"I don't know. I mean that's not Peter." Claire said trying to figure out why the guy in the painting looked so familiar "Wait that looks like Jesse." Claire said squinting her eyes at the painting.

"Why would you be going into his room? And why would Isaac paint you going into a room with him?" Peter asked Claire. Peter looked at Claire, his eyes searching for an answer in hers.

"I don't know." Claire said and shaking her head.

The door of the apartment opened and Simone walked into the apartment and was about to say something to Isaac when she saw Peter and Claire. She dropped her keys and they made a loud noise when they hit the floor because the room was so silent.

"Peter." She said breathlessly.

"Uh, hi." He said waving a little.

Simone looked from Peter to Isaac and then finally to Claire. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I came to see if Isaac had painted anything about Sylar." Peter said quietly.

"Oh." Was all she could say in return.

Peter stood up "maybe we should go Claire." Peter said.

"Oh, um ok." Claire said standing up next to him.

"You sure you don't want to stay and catch up?" Simone asked them, but she was really only talking to Peter.

"Simone." Isaac said, stress in his voice.

Peter sensed that stress "No, we have to get going." Peter said "but it was nice seeing you." He was totally overwhelmed by the painting of Claire and Jesse, and with seeing Simone.

"Yeah." Simone said giving him a short hug by the doorway.

"Thanks Isaac." Claire said as she followed Peter out the door.

Peter and Claire walked down the hallway in silence.

"Simone is gorgeous." Claire said suddenly. Claire was feeling pretty intimidated by her at the moment. She seemed like the kind of girl Peter should be with, not young stupid Claire.

"She's not as pretty as you Claire." Peter said, without much emotion in his voice however.

Claire forced out a "thank you" but she still felt intimidated by Simone.

"I don't understand that painting of you and Jesse." Peter said looking at Claire like she was hiding something from him.

"Stop looking at me like that Peter. I don't understand it either." Claire said.

"You were holding hands." Peter said sort of to himself.

"I'm aware of that." Claire said getting annoyed with Peter.

"I just don't get it." Peter said.

"I know, you've made that clear. Listen Peter, I don't get IT either. But I can't do anything about it. All I can say is that I don't plan on ever holding hands with Jesse and walking into a room with him." Claire said loudly.

"I'm sorry Claire." Peter said.

"It's ok." Claire said looking into Peter's eyes. The two had stopped walking and were outside next to Peter's car.

"I'm just scared you're like going to… get with Jesse or something." Peter said, "I mean why would Isaac paint that?"

"I don't know. But believe me Peter, the only guy I'm getting with is you." Claire said bringing her face up to his closely.

"Good." Peter said wrapping his arms around Claire's small waist and pulling her close to him.

"But, now what do we do? How are we going to find out about Sylar?" Claire asked Peter running her hands through his perfect hair.

"I don't know. I'll talk to everyone else tomorrow probably. But I don't want that to ruin our date tomorrow." Peter said kissing Claire quickly.

"It won't." Claire said hugging Peter. "Now I'm really hungry. Let's go get some food."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next night Claire was in her room getting ready for her big date with Peter. She put on a simple black silk dress that was low cut. She put on some hot pink pumps and went to the mirror to finish her make-up. Her hair was down and she had put in some spray so that her curls had a lot of volume. Jennifer was out for the night, probably with Steve, or Mike… or possible Charlie. Claire couldn't keep up with all of these guys.

There was a knock on the door and a confused Claire went to answer it. When she opened the door she saw none other then Brooke standing there.

"Hi Claire." Brooke said hesitatingly.

"Um, hi." Claire said leaning against the door.

"Wow, you look really pretty. Where are you going tonight?" Brooke asked her trying to smile.

Claire had to hold her mouth closed because it was threatening to open in a gasp.

"Going out with Peter, Brooke what are you doing here?" Claire asked her.

"I need to tell you something. It's been driving me crazy." Brooke said.

"How did you find my room?" Claire asked her.

"Peter told me." Brooke said. "Can I come in?"

Claire didn't say anything in response but she just opened her door up and let Brooke in.

"Peter really didn't want me to tell you this, and I don't exactly know what you two are right now…"

"We're together." Claire said cutting Brooke off.

"Oh. Wow." Brooke said looking down at her hands.

Claire was starting to freak out at this point.

"I really don't want to have to tell you this, but I feel like you should know." Brooke paused and took a deep breath "I slept with Peter last night."

Claire felt the wind being knocked out of her.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked her once she could breath again.

Brooke looked at Claire like she was kind of crazy "Last night, Peter and I had sex."

"No… that's impossible." Claire said starting to pace the room.

"Claire… it happened. And it wasn't just random. Peter told me he loved me." Brooke said.

"Your such a bitch." Claire said staring Brooke right in the eyes.

"Look Claire I'm sorry, but I don't really know you and I've loved Peter for a long time. I wasn't going to miss my chance." Brooke said.

"Please leave." Claire said, not willing to let herself cry in front of Brooke.

"I'm sorry." Brooke said again.

"Just GO!" Claire yelled at Brooke. Brooke walked out of the room quickly. Claire licked her lips and ran her hands through her hair. She was short of breath and she felt the tears starting to try and leave her eyes. This could not possibly be happening. After everything Peter had said… after she had lost her virginity to him. It just couldn't be true.

Claire grabbed a dark blue sweater and walked quickly out of her room. She got out onto the street and was starting to walk to her car when she ran into Jesse.

"Claire, hey are you ok?" He asked her.

"Um no, sorry I can't talk I have to go." Claire said breathlessly trying to slip past Jesse.

"Wait Claire." He said grabbing her arms and steadying her. "What happened?"

Claire finally stopped trying to move and looked into Jesse's eyes.

"Claire." He said, even though he fully knew what was wrong.

"Listen, I'm just stupid." Claire said starting to feel tears on her cheeks.

"Claire, your not stupid. What's wrong?" He asked her.

"I slept with Peter… and I just found out that he slept with another girl last night." Claire said fully crying now.

"I knew that guy was an ass." Jesse said.

"I just don't understand. I need to go see him." Claire said.

"Wait, Claire. You should wait to go over there. Don't let Peter see you like this." Jesse said wiping away some of her tears. "You should go get changed, and just get a hold of yourself."

Claire breathed deeply "You're right." Claire said.

"I can even take you over there." Jesse said.

"No, Jesse I can't ask you to do that." Claire said.

"Please, Claire I insist." Jesse said placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Ok, whatever." Claire said shrugging. "I'm going to go change."

"Alright. How about I meet you out here in twenty minutes." Jesse suggested.

"Great." Claire said turning from Jesse and going back into her dorm building. Once Jesse saw that she was safely inside the building he took out his phone and called Brooke.

"Hello." She said.

"Brooke, I just ran into Claire. She wants to go over to Peter's apartment and I got her to wait for about twenty minutes. Can you get over there?" Jesse asked her.

"Jesse, hon, I'm already on my way." Brooke said smiling to herself. It was just so easy.

"Good." Jesse said. "I think this actually might work."

"Duh, I knew it would." Brooke said, "See you soon I guess." Brooke hung up her phone.

She was driving to Peter's and she got out of her car. Now it was time for phase two of her plan. Make it look like her and Peter were doing something they weren't. All those years of acting in high school were going to pay off now. She knocked on Peter's apartment door and he answered.

"Peter hi, I really need to talk to you." Brooke said sniffling, like she had just been crying.

"What's up?" He asked her letting her into his apartment.

"I really hate bothering you, I mean with your brother and everything… god I'm sorry I should just go." Brooke said, starting to fake cry a little bit.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"I just got a call from my dad, he says I'm like the worst daughter in the world and that he hates me and never wants to see me again." Brooke said.

"Oh my god, Brooke that's awful." Peter said, not really knowing what to say.

"I don't know what to do Peter, I've never felt so upset in my life." Brooke said wiping away some tears, that weren't really there.

"I'm really sorry Brooke, come here." Peter said pulling her into a friendly hug.

"God, Peter… I really don't know what I'd do without you. I was afraid to come tonight but I don't really have anybody else." Brooke said.

"It's ok Brooke, don't worry about it." Peter said sweetly.

"Do you mind if I hang here tonight? I really don't think I can be alone." Brooke asked, looking up into Peter's eyes helplessly.

Peter hesitated… a lot… "Um, I was planning on going out with Claire." He said.

"Oh, of course. Sorry I'm an idiot." Brooke said.

"No, Brooke, it's ok. I think I can cancel." Peter said, hating himself inside for having to do this to Claire, but he couldn't just leave Brooke like this.

"Wow, you'd do that for me Peter?" Brooke asked him.

"You look like you need a friend right now." Peter said smiling.

"Thanks. Sorry this is going to sound really weird, but do you mind if wear one of your jackets, I'm just freezing." Brooke said, getting visibly happier now. The plan was falling into place, now all Claire needed to do was show up.

"Sure." Peter said grabbing a gray sweater off of the couch and handing it to her. She slipped it on, as there was a knock at the door.

Peter walked over and opened the door to see Claire standing there.

"Claire, I was just about to call you. I'm really sorry, but I have to cancel on our date tonight." Peter said.

Claire looked past Peter into the apartment and saw Brooke standing there, wearing one of Peter's sweaters.

"Have fun screwing Brooke." Claire said coldly before turning and walking away.

"What?" Peter asked her running after her. He grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Get your hands off of me Peter!" Claire yelled, as Jesse walked up behind her.

"What are you talking about Claire?" Peter asked her, probably the most confused he had even been in his life.

"You are such a liar. Just leave me alone." Claire said taking Jesse's hand and dragging him out of the apartment building, leaving Peter standing there in silence.

"What was that all about?" Brooke asked him, acting clueless.

"I don't know. But I need to go find out." Peter said starting to leave.

"Wait, Peter, maybe you should just let Claire chill out tonight. She's obviously having some issues." Brooke said, inside happy because the plan was totally working.

"Brooke, she thinks I'm having sex with you." Peter said.

"Girls are insecure Peter, trust me I know the feeling." Brooke said.

"I can't just let her go." Peter said.

"Yes, you really can." Brooke said trying to will Peter to stay by just using her eyes.

Peter thought about it for a few seconds and then finally sighed, maybe he should just let Claire have a night away from him. She was obviously having some sort of issues Peter didn't understand. He would just find her the next day and try to figure out why she had been freaking out…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire and Jesse arrived back at their dorm building.

"I'm really sorry about tonight Claire." Jesse said, they were outside of Claire's door.

"You don't need to be sorry Jesse." Claire said.

"It's just been a bad night for you." Jesse said touching her arm lightly.

"Well, you could make it better." Claire said smiling suddenly.

"What are you…" Jesse started, but Claire leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. Jesse deepened the kiss; he was nowhere as good as Peter… No! Claire thought, she could not think about Peter right now.

"Can we go to your room?" Claire asked him once the two pulled away.

"Sure." Jesse said quickly taking Claire's hand and leading her up two more flights of stairs to where his room was.

Once they got there Jesse got his key out and Claire saw that his room number was 347, the same number that was in Isaac's painting, and Claire was holding hands with Jesse and now entering his room. The painting was coming true… but Claire was too pissed, and emotional to really even care.

"So…" Again Jesse was just starting to say something but Claire had already lain down on his bed.

"Will you just shut up and get over here?" She asked him impatiently. She had no idea what was running through her head she just knew she needed to not think about Peter.

"Of course." Jesse said nodding his head and joining Claire on the bed "You sure about this?" He asked her.

Claire nodded her head and kissed Jesse "Positive, now please take off your shirt."

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Peter walked into Claire's dorm building the next day, frustrated and confused and anxious to know what was wrong with Claire. He was walking up to her room when he ran into Jesse.

"You're not looking for Claire are you?" Jesse asked Peter stopping him in the hallway.

"Yeah, I am." Peter said pushing past Jesse but Jesse moved and blocked Peter again.

"Haven't you done enough damage… just leave Claire alone." Jesse said.

"Get out of my way." Peter said, why did this Jesse guy ALWAYS have to be around?

"Claire doesn't want to talk to you." Jesse said pushing Peter back this time.

"Oh, and how exactly do you know that?" Peter asked him.

"Well, you know it might just be intuition but I think she made it pretty clear last night when she fucked me." Jesse said smiling.

Peter took all the rage and anger and annoyance he had had with Jesse and punched him right in the face. Once Jesse recovered he laughed a little.

"Whoa, Peter, jealous that Claire and I had hot sex last night?" Jesse asked him.

"You shut the hell up." Peter said going to punch him again but he felt someone else's hands hold his arm back.

"Stop it Peter." It was Claire.

"Claire… I need to talk to you." Peter said forgetting completely about Jesse once he saw Claire.

"Well I don't want to talk to you." Claire said crossing her arms "are you ok Jesse?" She asked him seeing that Peter had already punched him once.

"I'll be fine, Peter's just freaking out a little." Jesse said.

"Claire! Don't listen to him, he was just…" Peter started but stopped when he saw the look on Claire's face "What's going on with you?"

"What's going on Peter?! You thought I just wouldn't find out that you slept with Brooke… well I did and I slept with Jesse so I hope you're happy." Claire said.

"I didn't sleep with Brooke." Peter said finding it very hard to breath at the moment.

Jesse was getting kind of panicked now."Come on Claire, you don't need to listen to his lies." Jesse said trying to drag Claire away.

"Please Claire, where did you get that idea?" Peter asked her.

"Brooke told me." Claire said starting to feel sick to her stomach. She didn't know who to believe anymore.

"Claire, let's just go." Jesse said, knowing it was necessary that he get Claire out of there right now or else she would figure out the Peter/Brooke hook-up was all a lie.

"Brooke's a bitch. I don't know what her problem is. Please let me explain." Peter said taking Claire's hand.

"No, I just… I need to get out of here." Claire said.

"Good." Jesse said.

"No, I need to be alone. I have no idea what's going on right now. I just… shit…" Claire cursed under her breath. What if Peter really hadn't slept with Brooke… then Claire had just slept with Jesse for nothing… oh god this was terrible.

"You know I didn't do it Claire." Peter said looking deep into Claire's eyes.

"Sorry, I'm really confused. Sorry." Claire said totally exhausted by this whole situation.

She gave Peter one last look and quickly walked out of the building.

_Ooooh, Will Claire believe Peter? Haha I don't know but trust me I want Paire together as much as you all do. Please review its lovely haha, I'll try to update super soon cause it was a bit of a cliffhanger. Thanks bye!_


	6. A Rush Of Blood To The Head

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Disclaimer: sorry I haven't done this for my other chapter… I don't own Heroes, obvi…

_Hey guys… first off I watched heroes on Monday and thought it was very good. loved the peter/Claire moment. Anyways this chapter is so not how I thought it would go and I had a lot of trouble with it but I hope you guys like it… end is intense. Thanks for the reviews! They are greatly appreciated by me, and totally inspire me to keep writing. Anyways read and enjoy…_

Claire ran out of her dorm building to her car. She got in and locked the doors. What in the world was going on? She had just left Peter and Jesse after having an awful encounter between the two of them. Everything was going wrong right now. Peter had slept with Brooke, or at least she thought but now she wasn't so sure. And she had slept with Jesse, for probably no reason. Since Jen wasn't around there was only one person Claire could think to talk to about this.

Claire ended up driving to Niki's apartment, deciding there was no way she could go to her English class right now. When Niki let Claire in, Claire realized she wasn't quite sure of what she was going to say now that she was actually sitting down and ready to have a conversation.

"What's up Claire?" Niki asked her.

"Um, I'm just… worried about Sylar I guess." Claire said thinking of the first thing that came to mind. Maybe she could just use Sylar as a cover.

"Yeah, me too." Niki said leaning back on the couch and running her hands through her hair.

"But you know, there isn't much we can do besides prepare ourselves. He may not actually even be here. I mean Peter told me that Isaac hasn't painted anything." Niki said hopefully.

"Yeah, you're right." Claire said quietly. Why was this so awkward?

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Niki asked her, sensing there was something more.

Claire looked down at her hands, which were crossed, in her lap.

"Maybe." Claire said.

Niki waited for Claire to elaborate but she didn't say anything else "Well, what is it?" She asked finally.

Claire was silent for another second before she blurted out "I slept with Peter."

Niki was surprised by this. "Oh… wow. That was fast."

Claire laughed a little "And a mistake."

"Why?" Niki asked her.

"I don't know. I'm just really confused right now. This girl that Peter was friends with in college told me that she slept with Peter and I believed her. This was all last night by the way." Claire added and then kept going "I was really freaking out so I went and slept with this other guy who I'm kind of friends with I guess."

"Claire, honey." Niki said placing a hand on Claire's shoulder, this story was sounding pretty messed up.

"I know, I'm crazy. Anyway today I found out that I may have been wrong, and Peter didn't actually sleep with that girl." Claire said.

"Um.." Niki didn't quite know what to say.

"I'm just really confused, and I don't know who to believe anymore." Claire said almost at the point of tears.

"Well if you want my advice, I would say you should talk to Peter. I've known Peter for a while now and he is not the kind of guy to take advantage of girls. Peter would not do something like that to anyone he likes." Niki said.

Claire nodded her head "Yeah, I figured."

"But Claire, can I give you some more advice?" Niki asked her.

"Sure, I need it." Claire said.

"Please take things slow with Peter. Things are really complicated in all of our lives right now and… I'm sure Peter really cares about you. But don't get in too deep too fast." Niki said, she kind of enjoyed being able to give this kind of advice, because with Micah it was all… boy stuff.

"I know, thanks." Claire said.

"And don't sleep with other boys whenever you and Peter have a fight." Niki said a little jokingly, but at the same time she was serious about it.

"Oh trust me, I learned that lesson last night." Claire said. "I went from being a virgin to a sex whore." Claire said.

"Well just don't make it a habit." Niki said.

"Thank you so much Niki. I'm really glad you live in New York. I don't really have anyone to ask about advice like this to." Claire said

"No problem Claire, you can talk to me anytime you want." Niki said, "Now I have some brownies I made with Micah last night and you need to take some or else I'll eat them all and get fat." Niki said springing up from the couch.

"Well I love brownies." Claire said actually smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After Claire left Peter and Jesse, Peter felt that he had to get out or he would probably kill Jesse. He walked out of Claire's dorm and headed back to his car. When he got back to his apartment Brooke was standing outside of his door.

"What are you doing here Brooke?" Peter asked her, so angry and frustrated at the moment.

"I thought we could hang out." Brooke said innocently.

"I never want to see you again." Peter said walking past Brooke and unlocking his door.

"Wait, Peter, what are you talking about?" Brooke asked him, she didn't know about the Jesse/Peter blow up.

"What am I talking about? Brooke you lied to Claire and told her that we had sex." Peter said getting ready to close the door on her but she pushed through and walked into his apartment.

"Peter, I did not do that." Brooke said, denying it all.

"Well that's what Claire said and at this point I trust her a lot more than you." Peter said.

"Well…" Brooke was struggling to make up some sort of excuse "She made that up Peter, Come on, you have to trust me," Brooke said grabbing his hand in a pleading gesture.

"Brooke!" Peter yelled shaking her hand away "Get out of my apartment."

"Fine, you want me to admit it Peter? That's great I will. That Jesse kid and I planned this all out. And it sure didn't take much for Claire to go sleep with Jesse now did it? You might want to think about that before you consider dating her again…And I'm sorry, but I've loved you for such a long time… and besides that why are you with Claire? She's way too young for you." Brooke said.

"Jesse was in on this?" Peter asked her, staring straight into her eyes.

"Yes, it was practically his idea." Brooke lied, knowing it was fully all her idea.

Peter couldn't help but laugh a little at the whole situation "Wow, I didn't know people like you existed." Peter said.

"Oh come on Peter, I was just trying to get what I wanted." Brooke said.

"Well I don't think you did. And to answer your question I like Claire because she is an amazing girl. She's smart, nice, intelligent, beautiful and more honest then you will ever be." Peter said all in a raised voice at Brooke. Although it was true, Claire did sleep with Jesse pretty easily.

"I'm sorry… Peter I'm sorry." Brooke said "Please try to understand it from my point of view."

"I can't do that Brooke. We were friends in college, and that's fine. But as of now I don't ever want to see you again." Peter said… again.

Brooke waited for a few moments, waiting to see if perhaps Peter would change his mind. She nodded his head when he didn't say anything "Fine, I hope you can work things out with Claire." Brooke said giving Peter one last smile before heading out of his apartment.

The door slammed and Peter let out a large breath he felt like he had been holding in all the way back to this morning when he punched Jesse. He could not believe that Brooke and Jesse had made up this whole evil scheme to get him and Claire apart.

Peter almost jumped when there was a knock at his door. That better not be Brooke again.

When he opened the door he saw Claire, standing there looking sort of helpless.

"Hi." She said in a barely audible voice.

"Claire, come in." Peter said taking her hand and leading her inside his apartment. "I'm so sorry about everything that's happened."

"I know." Claire said slowly walking over to his couch and sitting down.

"Do you also know that I didn't sleep with Brooke?" Peter asked her.

"I think." Claire said, not willing to look in Peter's eyes for fear she would break down and cry.

"She made it up Claire." Peter said.

"Then explain something to me Peter. When I came over here last night, why was she wearing your sweater?" Claire asked Peter, realizing that the question sounded more stupid then it had in her head.

"She said she was cold… look Claire she came to me with all this bullshit about her dad being mean to her and I fell for it. I had no idea it was all some big plan." Peter said taking Claire's hands again.

"Peter…" Claire started and felt tears starting to run down her cheeks "I slept with Jesse."

"I know, he told me this morning." Peter said, he didn't really want to think about that little detail of everything. He let go of her hands and leaned back in the couch.

"I'm sorry. I was overwhelmed by everything. I was hurt, and I was insecure and Jesse was just there. I've never regretted anything more in my life." Claire said tears freely falling at this point.

"Yeah." Peter said quietly.

"Are you mad at me?" Claire asked him wiping some of her tears away and forcing herself to look at Peter.

Peter took in a deep breath "I don't know… part of me is really angry, but another part of me can't blame you for it." Peter said.

"Well I don't blame you for being mad at me. I hate myself for it." Claire said.

"Any other guy then Jesse would've been so much better. I just hate that guy." Peter said.

"I know you do. Peter I honestly don't know what was wrong with me. I guess I need to work on not letting my emotions take control over me." Claire said. Was this it for her and Peter? Would he be able to get past her and Jesse sleeping together? She didn't know. She wasn't even sure if she could get past it.

It was silent in the apartment momentarily, "Jesse was in on all of this Claire." Peter said breaking the silence.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asked him, catching her breath.

"Before you came over I was getting really mad at Brooke and she admitted that she did all of this, and Jesse helped her." Peter said.

"I'm going to fucking kill him." Claire said springing up from the couch in fury and heading for the door.

"Claire, hold on." Peter said bounding after her. "Don't go see Jesse right now."

"Are you kidding me Peter? He basically tricked me into sleeping with him." Claire said.

"I know, but there's a point to this. I'm not mad at you because you slept with Jesse." Peter said and then replayed the sentence in his head "Ok, well I am, but the main reason I'm mad is because you couldn't trust me. I told you that guy was no good but you just didn't listen." Peter said, not in a mean way but it made Claire want to cry… because she knew it was completely true.

"I don't know what to tell you Peter, except that I'm so sorry, and I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for sleeping with Jesse. I guess I can't expect you to either." Claire said holding back her threatening tears and once again heading towards the door.

"Claire, of course I can forgive you." Peter said. Claire stopped walking and turned to look at Peter smiling.

"You can?" She asked him for reassurance.

"I need you to trust me Claire, especially with Sylar and everything going on right now." Peter said.

"I've learned my lesson." Claire said taking a step towards Peter.

"Good." He said back taking her by the waist and pulling her all the way to him "Because I really like you Claire."

"Can we kiss and make-up now?" Claire asked Peter, pretending she was in some teenage soap opera… that her life was very much, resembling right now, except for the whole having super powers part.

"I'd love to." Peter replied whispering the words to her, letting his lips just barely brush against hers as he said them. Claire couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned towards Peter and pressed her lips into his wrapping her arms around his neck to maintain her stability.

After a good few minutes of making out Claire pulled away "what do you say, you and me have a big movie marathon tonight… and maybe then I can spend the night." She suggested raising her eyebrows.

Peter let his hands slip under her shirt onto the bare skin of her back "I can't wait." He said.

"Good, but right now, I need to go kill Jesse." Claire said making herself slip away from Peter because she knew she wouldn't be able to if he kept touching her like he was before.

"Claire" Peter whined "You can't just make out with me, then make little seductive suggestions and then leave to go kill another guy." Peter said half jokingly, and half seriously. He just got Claire back, and she was leaving him for JESSE.

"Peter, I won't be able to concentrate unless I can go slap Jesse right now." Claire pleaded to Peter "I can pick up the movies on my way back over here."

Peter groaned, "Ok, I guess. Slap him extra hard for me." Peter said.

Claire laughed a little "I'll have trouble constraining myself."

"Good." Peter said laughing with her… he loved how he and Claire were able to go back to normal so quickly. She didn't get too caught up in all the drama.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Claire said kissing Peter quickly and this time she finally made it out of his apartment door without being stopped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire got back to her dorm room and walked inside right as Jennifer was leaving.

"Oh my god, Jennifer I have so much to talk to you about." Claire said using her hands to emphasize how important it was.

"Oh, Claire, I'd really love to but honestly I have to go. I met this guy at the store today and… well what can I say it was love at the bread isle." Jen said placing her hand over her heart in dramatic effect.

Claire really wanted to Jen tell everything about Brooke, Jesse, and her almost break-up with Peter, but she figured Jen was just anxious to go.

"Ok well I'm spending the night out tonight so I will talk to you tomorrow." Claire said.

"Sure, um when I got here there was a package outside of the door for you. It's on your desk and really sketchy looking so… have fun with that." Jen said giving Claire a small hug before leaving the apartment.

"Yeah, bye." Claire said even though Jen had already shut the door and left. Claire quickly walked over and picked the package up. It was a medium sized brown envelope. This was intriguing to say the least, because there was no address as to who the package was from. Claire slowly opened it and looked inside to see a DVD disc with a post-it note on it that said "This will make you famous."

This was really creepy… Claire went over to her computer and popped the DVD in. When she pressed in she realized it was… oh no... It couldn't possibly be Jesse's room.

Holy FUCK, Claire thought. It was a video of Claire and Jesse having sex. This was just not possible. Claire immediately ejected the disc and in fury she ran out of her dorm room and up the two flights of stairs to Jesse's.

She pounded on the door. Jesse came and opened it.

"Oh Claire…" He started. How dare he talk to her in that happy, so sure of himself way that he always did.

"Shut up, you shut the hell up." Claire said barging into his room and slamming the door behind her.

"What's wrong baby?" He asked her stealthily walking over to her.

Baby?? Who did he think he was? "What is wrong with you? What is this?" She asked him shoving the DVD onto his chest.

"What? Oh this… I hope you don't mind I did a little recording last night. I am an aspiring director you know." He said smiling down at the DVD and then back at Claire.

"Get rid of it right now." Claire said standing her ground.

"No, you're being ridiculous." Jesse said putting the DVD down on his desk.

"You're being disgusting." She retorted coldly.

"Claire, Claire, Claire… What's wrong… you looked great in that tape." Jesse said placing his hands on her arms.

"Get off of me." She yelled slapping him hard across the face. Jesse put a hand over his stinging cheek.

"Now, there's no need to overreact." He said. This time when he spoke Claire sensed a new tone in his voice… creepy and evil.

"I'm serious Jesse, get rid of that video." Claire said.

"You presume that your holding all the power here Claire, but you're not. Unless you want that video out for everyone in the world to see, then I suggest you do what I tell you to do." Jesse said taking slow and subtle steps towards Claire. Claire started backing up to the door, sensing that something was seriously wrong with Jesse.

"You were in on that little plan with Brooke weren't you Jesse?" She asked him, trying to keep her cool.

"Does it matter… either way you would've slept with me. Who would've thought young Claire would be so easy?" Jesse asked to the imaginary world around him.

"You took advantage of me. Granted I made the stupidest mistake of my life, and that's becoming clearer to me by the second… but it's all your fault." Claire said.

"I'm sick of this Claire. Shut up!" Jesse said forcefully grabbing her arms and pinning her against the wall. Claire was caught out of breath.

"Jesse, just get rid of the tape and let me go. I'm back with Peter now." Claire said.

"Oh really… well you can go tell Peter right now, that things are over between the two of you… because you're with me." Jesse said slowly stroking Claire's cheek.

"No!" She yelled pushing Jesse off of her. She opened the door and started to run away and Jesse ran after her.

"Claire don't underestimate me. I will put that tape out." Jesse said smiling cruelly as he chased after her. Claire ran down the stairs as fast as she possibly could, so totally wishing she could fly right now.

"Wait, Claire… where are you going so fast?" Jesse asked her, gaining on her by the second. Claire ran to her room and struggled to get her door open. She opened it just as Jesse was about to catch her and as she was closing the door when Jesse pushed it open and walked inside.

"Trapped in your own room." Jesse stated slowly closing the door. Claire gulped and tried to scan the room for something to escape out of… or hit Jesse with.

"Just leave me alone." She struggled to say because her voice was shaking so much.

"I just don't think I can do that." Jesse said advancing on Claire.

"Jesse, stop. What are you doing?" She asked him as he pushed her onto her bed.

"Last night was fun Claire… why don't we try and recreate it?" He asked her getting on top of her on the bed.

"No! Jesse get off!" Claire yelled hitting his arms and body away from her.

"Stop struggling Claire, you and I both know you want it." Jesse said going down to kiss her and right as he did the door flung open. Claire hoped with everything she had that it would be Peter.

But it wasn't.

The person standing in the doorway was none other then Sylar.

Jesse looked confusingly over at Sylar. "Who the hell are you?" He asked him.

Sylar looked at Jesse and immediately flung Jesse across the room to the ground and killed him.

Claire screamed in horror. Here she was lying defenseless on her bed, no one around to protect her, with Sylar.

Sylar laughed a little at how easy it was for him to kill Jesse and then he switched his gaze over to Claire.

He took a step towards her and said, "Claire Bennet, I've been waiting so long to see you."

_SORRY… I know people hate cliffhanger but I just had to leave it there. I promise I'll update in the next four or five days maybe even sooner haha. Review if you can and I hope you liked the chapter. Thanks!_


	7. Where We Gonna Go From Here

Chapter 7: Where We Gonna Go From Here

_Hello Lovely readers of this story. I wrote this whole chapter kind of quickly but it was very fun to write. Thanks again for your amazing reviews, you guys really make me SO happy to write this story. Anyway this chapter picks up right where chapter 6 left off so read and enjoy…_

_Previously _

_Sylar looked at Jesse and immediately killed him; Jesse fell to the middle of the floor in Claire's room. _

_Claire screamed in horror. Here she was lying defenseless on her bed, no one around to protect her, with Sylar. _

_Sylar laughed a little at how easy it was for him to kill Jesse and then he switched his gaze over to Claire. _

_He took a step towards her and said, "Claire Bennet, I've been waiting so long to see you." _

Claire panicked and scrambled on her bed until she was standing up.

"Claire, where are you going?" Sylar asked her in that cool, creepy tone that made Claire's skin crawl.

"What do you want?" She asked him, even though she already knew. Maybe she could stall…

"I hear you have powers like me. I'd love to try those out." Sylar said mentally throwing Claire against the wall. Claire felt the wind being knocked out of her.

"Please don't" Claire whimpered as Sylar walked towards her. He trailed his fingers across her cheek.

"It's a shame I have to kill such a young and pretty girl. But I think it's quite necessary." Sylar said smiling evilly at Claire.

Claire held her breath and braced herself by closing her eyes, but then she heard a big thump and felt Sylar hand's leave her cheek.

She opened her eyes in shock to see Sylar on the floor knocked out cold and standing over him was Isaac Mendez. Isaac looked over at Claire to see if she was all right before picking Sylar up and throwing him out the window onto the street.

Claire watched in awe, unable to even speak. She stayed perfectly still against the wall as if she couldn't move.

"Are you ok?" Isaac asked her walking towards her.

Claire switched her gaze from the broken window over to Isaac.

She stayed silent for a moment letting herself catch her breath. "I think so." She answered finally.

Claire stumbled over to her bed and sat down still in shock "How did you know to come here?" She asked Isaac, considering he would probably be the least likely to save her out of anyone else in the world.

"I painted it this morning. I just called Peter and asked him where your dorm was because I figured I could get over here faster. But he should be coming." Isaac said slipping his hands into his jean pockets.

"Why did you save me? I mean you don't even know me." Claire said, she still had a shocked and terrified look across her face, but she was able to stand up on her own two feet now, even though she felt a bit wobbly in fear.

"We have to look out for each other. I couldn't just let Sylar kill you." Isaac said.

Claire didn't know what to say, she figured a thank you was probably in order. "Well, Thank you. Thank you so much… I mean you saved my life." Claire said feeling awkward just staring at Isaac so she leaned up and hugged him.

Claire looked over Isaac's shoulder and saw Peter run into the room, out of breath and scared.

"Peter." Claire said almost inaudibly.

"Oh my god Claire, thank god you're ok." Peter said.

Isaac sensed the two of them wanted to 'reunite' so he stepped to the side and immediately Peter took Claire into his arms. Claire held onto him as tight as humanely possible.

She finally felt like she could breath again now that she was in Peter's arms, and now that she felt his hands running along her hair and back. Peter whispered into Claire's ear that he was so sorry he wasn't there sooner. Claire said that it was ok. She still didn't to let go of Peter, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stand if she did. Peter slowly pulled away from her and led her over to her bed to sit her down.

"You ok?" Peter asked her.

Claire nodded in response as Peter got up from the bed and walked over to Isaac.

"So you just painted it this morning?" Peter asked Isaac.

"Yes." Isaac responded.

The two of them got pulled into talks about paintings, saving Claire, and Sylar. Claire finally started looking around the room and realized how much of a disaster it was. In the middle of the room lied a dead Jesse. There were traces of blood throughout the room, and shards of glass all around the floor from when Isaac had thrown Sylar through the window…. Shit, was Sylar still out there? Claire jumped up from the bed startling both Peter and Isaac. She ran over to the open window and looked out onto the street and expected to see Sylar lying on the sidewalk but no one was there. No blood, no body, no Sylar.

"Sylar's gone." Claire said, her voice shaky.

"It's ok. He wouldn't come back so soon." Isaac said.

"We have to call the police." Claire said looking down at Jesse.

"What is Jesse even doing in here?" Peter asked Claire.

Claire looked at Peter and shook her head "I'll tell you later, but we need to call the police right now." Claire said.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Isaac said.

"There's a dead college student in my dorm room." Claire almost shouted. Peter slipped an arm around her to calm her.

"Yes, I can see that. But the police are going to want to know what happened, and who killed him and as of now we don't have the man who did it." Isaac said.

"He's right Claire." Peter said surprised that he agreed with Isaac, but he did owe him a lot right now "I don't want you to be a suspect for killing Jesse." Peter said.

"I have a roommate. I'm in college. I can't just drag Jesse's body to a river and let it float away. Jen's going to want to know why there's blood all over the place and why our window's broken." Claire said.

"Maybe it's time you told Jennifer what you can do." Isaac suggested subtly.

"We have to call the police. I'll tell them the truth and we'll say that the killer got away." Claire said. She had no idea how complicated the truth could be.

Peter looked over at Isaac, as if he was asking him if it was ok to call the police.

"We'll call Parkman." Peter suggested.

"Ok." Isaac said.

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About an hour later Claire, Peter, Isaac, Parkman and mass amounts of other police officers were all standing outside of Claire's dorm building. Claire was sitting on a stone step waiting for Jen to get there.

"We have some questions for you Miss Bennet." A police officer said to Claire, but she barely even heard him because she was looking over at some men carrying Jesse out of the dorm building on a stretcher with a blanket covering his whole body. The whole thing made Claire feel sick to her stomach.

"Miss Bennet?" The police officer asked when she wouldn't respond.

"I'll handle her." Parkman said walking over.

The other police officer nodded at Matt and decided to go question Isaac.

"Look Claire, I know you don't want to talk right now. So why don't we just talk another time when you're more ready?" Matt asked her leaning down so that he was eye level with her.

"Thanks." She said to him.

"Claire!" Jen's shrill voice said running across the street to where Claire was sitting.

"Jennifer." Claire said standing up.

"What happened?" Jen asked her wildly looking all around her at all the commotion that was going on. The car with Jesse in it was now starting to drive away.

"It's a long story. But Jesse's dead." Claire said.

Jen took a step back in shock "Oh my god. I… what… How did this happen?" Jen asked Claire.

Claire didn't really feel like explaining that she was a "super freak" right now.

"Jesse was in my room. This other guy was coming to kill me and Jesse was in his way. Anyway Peter's friend Isaac came and basically saved my life." Claire said.

"Why is there a guy trying to kill you?" Jen asked Claire, grabbing Claire's arm at the same time.

"It's a long story. But I really can't tell you right now." Claire said just as Peter walked over to the two of them.

"Hey Jen." Peter said.

"Hi." Jen said giving him a suspicious look.

"Look, I think you two should probably not stay in your dorm room for awhile. They're going to be doing some forensic work and it needs to be cleaned up, not to mention the fact that you guys don't have a window." Peter said.

Jen's mouth dropped open "Wow, this is serious." Jen said.

"Yeah, Look Claire I thought you could stay with me. That would be safest." Peter said.

"What about Jen?" Claire asked him.

"I can stay with this guy, I'm pretty sure." Jen said not wanting to intrude on Peter and Claire.

"Are you sure?" Claire asked Jen.

"Yeah. But um… am I in danger Claire?" Jen asked her.

"No, you should be fine." Peter said immediately. "Just stay away from that room for awhile." Peter said

Jen nodded her head.

"I'm going to go tell the police we're leaving Claire, you've been through enough today." Peter said walking away from Claire and Jen.

"I'm so confused Claire." Jen said.

"I know, I have so much to tell you, but I just can't right now. I promise I will though." Claire said.

Jen searched Claire's eyes with her own and then shrugged "ok, come on let's go get some clothes."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter drove Claire back to his apartment after she got about a week's worth of clothes, which took awhile. Claire was unusually silent the whole car ride and when the two got into Peter's apartment Claire walked in quietly and dropped her three bags on the couch.

"Are you sleeping out here?" Peter asked her, not really knowing what else to say.

Claire looked over at him confused. "I don't know. I thought you might want your room to yourself."

"Claire, I want you to stay in my room. The more I'm around you the more I know your safe." Peter said taking one of Claire's hands.

Claire kind of shuddered at his touch "Ok." She said nodding her head and picking up her bags and walking back to Peter's room.

Peter watched her go and could clearly see that she wasn't telling him something. Maybe she was just in shock, but he still felt she was hiding something from him. Whatever it was he could tell it was making Claire sad and he hated seeing her that way.

Claire walked back out of Peter's room and into the living room. She noticed that Peter was staring at her.

"What?" She asked him in an innocent way.

"You sure you're ok?" Peter asked her his eyes squinting in concern.

Claire nodded and even smiled a little "fine." She said. Apparently she was talking in only one and two syllable words now.

"Claire, please talk to me." Peter said walking over to her.

"I'm going to take a shower. I feel disgusting." Claire said walking away from Peter before he got close enough to touch her.

Peter sighed once she had closed the bathroom door. He figured he could try and make some dinner for her or something. He looked through his cabinets and all he found was some macaroni and cheese in a box and some peanut butter. Maybe he could order them some Chinese.

After he ordered them a variety of food he sat on the couch. He was exhausted after everything that had happened that day… he couldn't even imagine how tired Claire must be. Fifteen minutes later Claire walked out of the bathroom wearing grey Hollister sweat pants and a long black-sleeved shirt. She put her wet hair into a messy bun on top of her head. Peter thought Claire could look cute no matter what she was wearing.

"How was your shower?" Peter asked her starting to get up from the couch.

"It was fine, you don't have to get up." Claire said quickly. She had a light and happy tone in her voice now… which was just weird considering the circumstances.

"I ordered us a ton of Chinese food." Peter said.

"Great." Claire said sitting down on Peter's lap "I love Chinese." She said making the words sound seductive.

"Claire?" Peter asked, confused as to her change in mood.

Claire put a finger over Peter's lips to silence him "I don't really feel like talking right now." She leaned down pressing her body against Peters. She kissed him hard on the lips and ran her hands across his body, but it wasn't long before Peter got out from underneath her to stop her.

"Claire, what are you doing?" Peter asked her.

"Excuse me?" Claire asked him, what was wrong with him?

"You're not telling me something, I know it." Peter said leaning towards Claire in a way that was pleading with her to tell him what the hell was going on.

"You don't know me that well." Claire said leaning away from Peter.

"Claire please, just tell me what's going on with you. Did something else happen with Sylar? Why was Jesse there?" Peter asked her.

"Will you stop asking me questions Peter? I don't want to talk about it." Claire said coldly turning her whole body away from Peter. She hunched her shoulders over and put her head in her hands.

Peter was shocked at Claire. He gently placed his hand on her back to rub it and it nearly caused Claire to jump off of the couch it surprised her so much, but she settled back down, still keeping her head in her hands. Peter could hear Claire making crying noises.

He got up and walked around so that he was kneeling in front of Claire, he didn't care if she got mad at him anymore.

Claire sensed him there and looked up. She didn't know why she was so unwilling to tell Peter about Jesse. Probably because she felt like the biggest idiot ever, and that it was all her fault for sleeping with Jesse anyway. Claire pressed her lips together and felt more tears falling down her cheek.

Peter didn't say anything he just looked at her and smiled gently wiping away some of her tears.

"Come here Claire." He said pulling her into his arms. Claire laid her head on his shoulder and just cried for a little while. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, her arms half resting on his broad shoulders.

Peter had no idea what was wrong with her, but he thought it was best if he just let her cry for a little.

Finally Claire pulled back from Peter.

"You're not going to like this." Was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"That's ok." Peter said stroking Claire's cheeks, which were red and puffy from crying.

"I got back to my dorm building and Jen handed me this package thing. When I opened it up it was a DVD that had a note saying it would make me famous someday. I put it on my computer and I realized that when Jesse and I had sex, that he taped it."

Peter thought it was a good thing Jesse was dead, because Peter would've killed him after Claire told him that.

Claire felt Peter's body tense in its hold on her.

"I went to Jesse's room and confronted him about it. I thought I could make him understand but he didn't." This was the point when Claire felt like she was going to start crying again.

"I um… I ran out of his room and he ran after me into mine. I tried to stop him Peter, but he was too strong and he pushed me down on my bed. I mean… the only thing that stopped him from raping me was Sylar." Claire said, feeling as if she was going to fully break down and cry again inside but for some reason no tears were coming out. Maybe it was actually kind of freeing to say all of this aloud.

Peter couldn't say anything he was so mad. Jesse was crazy.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Stay there." Peter said. Life was so weird right now he couldn't even trust a knock on the door. Luckily it was just the Chinese food. Peter paid the delivery guy and set the mass amounts of food down on the kitchen counter. He walked back over to Claire who was now sitting on the floor leaning her back against the couch. Peter sat next to her doing the same.

"Well shit Claire." Peter said.

Claire who was almost crying, for some reason started to laugh a little bit. The situation wasn't funny at all… but it was just so absurd that Claire had to laugh.

"Yeah, we lead pretty fucked up lives." Claire said.

Peter actually cracked a smile. "Oh god, you should not be laughing right now." Peter said, trying not to laugh himself, but Claire's laugh was just so contagious.

"I know." Claire said "But what else am I supposed to do?" She asked him.

"I don't know." Peter replied.

Claire turned so that she could lean her head against Peter's shoulders.

"I'm just happy to be here with you Peter. I have to try and not think about what happened today." Claire said.

Peter looked down at Claire and slipped his arm around her as she snuggled closer to him.

"You're right, but you have been through a lot today." Peter said, "no one can just expect you to move on so quickly."

"I hate getting caught up in drama." Claire said, tilting her head up so she could see Peter's face.

Peter tilted his down and kissed her softly.

"Do you want some Chinese food?" He asked her.

"I'm starving." Claire said smiling. Finally a subject she loved to talk about: food.

"Ok, good." Peter said getting up from the floor and grabbing the bags of food. He pushed the coffee table away and placed the food on the floor. Then he went and got two glasses from the kitchen and two sodas. He poured them both a soda and gave Claire her glass.

"Shall we?" he asked her, motioning to the little living room picnic.

"Of course." Claire said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire woke up the next morning in Peter's bed. They definitely had not had sex… last night was just not the right timing for that kind of thing. She turned around and saw Peter asleep facing her. Claire looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:00 AM. She nudged Peter.

"Peter, wake up." She said a bit loudly.

Peter grumbled something and groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Peter, don't you have work?" Claire asked him.

Peter ran his hands through his hair. He pulled Claire over to him and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm skipping work today." Peter said.

As good as it felt to be in Peter's arms again Claire made herself get up. She knew Peter was only skipping work so that he could keep an eye on her.

"Peter, you are not skipping work." she said.

"What are you talking about? I want to stay with you today." Peter said looking at Claire confused.

"I'm going to be fine Peter. You need to go to work." Claire said.

"Claire, I'm not leaving you alone here all day." Peter said finally sitting up in bed a little. Claire got onto the bed and sat next to Peter.

"I was kind of thinking I would go over to Isaac's apartment today. I wanted to thank him again." Claire said.

"You don't need to go over there." Peter said. Claire hit Peter on the arm.

"He saved my life." Claire said, "I do need to go over there."

"Fine, I'll take you over there, but I'm still not going to work today." Peter said.

Claire tried to stare down Peter but it wasn't working "Ok… fine be stubborn." Claire said.

"I will." Peter said, happy that he had semi-won the argument. He just didn't feel right leaving Claire alone all day.

"I'll give you a ride over to Isaac's and go visit Nathan and then you can call me when you're ready to go." Peter said.

"Sounds good." Claire said smiling. She kissed Peter on the cheek quickly and then got up to change clothes.

"I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty positive Niki is going to want to see you and everyone else and she'll probably have us over to dinner at her house. Would you be up to that for tonight?" Peter asked Claire.

Claire looked over at him; she was trying to decide between a red or yellow shirt to wear.

"Sure." Claire said.

"Ok." Peter said.

"I'm going to go change. Be ready when I get out of the bathroom." Claire said playfully swatting Peter with the shirt she chose to wear as she walked by him to the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter dropped Claire off at Isaac's apartment. Once Claire was on her own and actually walking up to Isaac's door she got pretty nervous. Isaac probably didn't want to talk to her.

Nevertheless Claire knocked on the door and Simone opened it.

"Oh um hi." Claire said wondering if she could possibly sound more stupid.

"Hi, it's Claire right?" Simone asked.

"Yes, is Isaac here?" Claire asked Simone.

Simone looked hesitant to let Claire in "um.. I'm not…" but Simone was stopped by the sound of Isaac's voice as he came to the door.

"Is that Claire?" He asked and got his answer when he came face to face with her at the door.

"Hi." Claire said half-smiling.

"Claire, come in." he said opening the door. Simone looked pissed.

"Is everything ok?" Isaac asked her.

Claire nodded yes.

"I um, haven't painted anything else if that's what you're here for." Isaac said.

"Oh, no." Claire jumped in quickly to say "Not at all. I wanted to thank you." Claire said.

"You already did." Isaac said smiling at her.

"I know, but that was a really hectic time. I just wanted to properly thank you. I mean you did save my life." Claire said.

"And I would do it again." Isaac said.

Claire smiled and hugged Isaac "Well… Thank you." She said raising her eyebrows and smiling.

"You're welcome." Isaac said.

"Ok, I guess I should go now. Maybe I can bring you guys some… cookies or something." Claire suggested, and then realized… that she sounded like an 18 year old Girl Scout.

"That's really not necessary." Simone said joining in the conversation.

"She's right. You don't need to do anything." Isaac said but it didn't have the cold tone that Simone had.

"Alright. Well I need to get going." Claire said turning towards the door "Thanks again."

"I'll walk you out." Simone said smiling at Isaac, and following Claire out the door.

Once the two were in the hallway Claire turned to Simone.

"You don't have to walk me out." Claire said.

"You don't need to flirt with Isaac." Simone said.

Claire shook her head "Excuse me?"

"I can see what you're doing. You've already trapped Peter, but you can stay away from my boyfriend. It's kind of cute you have a little crush on him, but you're just going to have to get over that." Simone said.

"Believe me, I do not have a 'little crush' on Isaac. And for your information I did not trap Peter into anything." Claire said, getting angry with Simone.

"Whatever, you're eighteen Claire. You shouldn't even be with Peter." Simone said.

"I'm so sick of hearing that crap. Peter likes me and I like him. I don't see what's wrong with that. He cares about me." Claire said.

"He cared about me once too." Simone said.

Claire rolled her eyes "Um, ok." What was Simone's comment supposed to accomplish?

"I'm just saying you're not the only girl Peter has ever cared about. You're not that special." Simone said.

"Listen, you don't have to be a bitch to me just because you think I'm going to take Isaac from you. I'm actually kind of flattered you think I'm capable of doing that, but I like Peter, not Isaac." Claire said.

"Just stay away from Isaac." Simone said.

"Fine." Claire said turning to leave but then she turned back around "You know, all I was doing was thanking him for SAVING MY LIFE!" Claire almost yelled.

"Well good." Simone said sarcastically back.

Claire almost laughed at how ridiculous Simone was being and just continued to walk away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter picked Claire up as quickly as he could, because Claire made it clear that she did not want to have to see Simone again. When they got back to Peter's apartment Claire had to explain all about how bitchy Simone had been to Claire… but not wanting to stress Peter out Claire decided to just downplay the situation.

Peter informed Claire that Niki did in fact want to have a low-key dinner that night, so Claire changed into some white true religion jeans and a sheer long sleeved shirt.

"Did I mention that you look great tonight?" Peter asked Claire placing his hand on her lower back, as the two of them were walking up to Niki and DL's flat.

"No." Claire said smiling at Peter "but thank you."

"No problem." Peter said, knocking on the door, which was almost immediately answered by Niki.

"Oh, Claire." Niki said embracing Claire. This was the first time Niki had seen Claire since she had heard about the news.

"Hey Niki." Claire said once she pulled away from their hug.

"Come on in, you two." Niki said welcoming them inside.

"What no hug for me?" Peter asked Niki, sarcastically offended.

Niki rolled her eyes at Peter "Always wants the attention." Niki said to Claire as she gave Peter a short hug.

Micah came out into the living room "Claire!" He yelled in excitement as he ran and to Claire and practically jumped into her arms.

"Wow, I'm getting a warm welcome tonight." Claire said putting Micah back down.

"Of course, we were very worried about you." DL said, joining in and also giving Claire a hug.

"Oh yeah, Nathan said to give you a hug at the hospital today." Peter said.

Claire looked at Peter skeptically "No he didn't." She said.

"Ok, you got me. But he did ask me to tell you that he's glad you're ok." Peter said.

"I feel so loved." Claire said smiling at everyone.

"I'm sure if Hiro were here he would hug you too, but he's busy tonight." Niki said taking a seat on one of the chairs in the living room.

"And Matt has to work." DL said.

"So, Isaac Mendez saved you?" DL asked Claire, for some reason he still couldn't get past the fact that Isaac actually came to someone's rescue.

"Yeah, he saved my life." Claire said.

"We need to start being more careful, especially since Sylar could still be anywhere, and now he's out for revenge." DL said.

"DL, don't scare Micah." Niki said giving him a cross look.

"I'm just saying. It's probably not a good idea for people to be walking around by themselves. At least for the time being." DL said back.

"He's right." Peter said "Claire's staying with me for the next week or so." Peter announced.

Niki and DL exchanged glances "You're sleeping on the couch right Peter?" Niki asked him in a sort of joking way.

"Of course." Peter said innocently, but Claire knew that everyone in the room could sense that Peter was definitely not sleeping on the couch, and neither was Claire. Hopefully Micah wasn't picking up on that fact too much.

"Be careful there." Niki said to the two of them.

Claire and Peter now exchanged glances, and both looked down at the ground smiling and trying to hold in their laughter. Everyone was telling them to take it slow, but they had had sex when they were practically still getting to know each other.

"We will." Claire said. Niki and Claire shared a look at with each other that sort of meant they understood each other.

"Well come on. We should probably eat dinner before it gets cold." Niki said getting out of her seat and motioning for everyone to join her in the kitchen.

Claire and Peter were the last to go in and before they did Peter grabbed Claire's hand.

"I think I love you." He whispered into her ear.

_Alright, so kind of a cliffhanger? I don't really know, but I thought it was kinda cute. Next chapter will be a bit less dramatic… lots of Peter and Claire hah, probs no Sylar encounter in the next one. Please review if you would like, Thanks Bye!_


	8. Bold As Love

Bold As Love

_Hey guys, sorry about the long wait in updates, but school is close to being over so im just very stressed right now. Awesome reviews last time thank you sooooo much, haha and idareyoutowalkthroughfire, I don't care if you write a lot of reviews haha… anyways this chapter is just some paire cuteness, starts where last chapter left off. I hope you like, read and enjoy…_

He THINKS he loves her… what the hell does that mean? Peter had just said to Claire 'I think I love you' and he gave her no time to even catch her breath or respond to his crazy statement. Claire felt like she was drunk because she was so dizzy. So she was relieved when she could finally sit down at the dinner table with Niki, DL, and Micah. Peter took a seat next to her and smiled over her. Was that an 'I know I love you smile', or was it an 'I changed my mind, let's just be friends smile'… or what the fuck was going on?!

Claire placed her napkin in her lap and took in a deep breath. Then it dawned on her, why was she freaking out about this? Peter said that he might freaking love her, which was pretty much the best thing he could ever say to her. Despite that it was a bit soon, it was amazing and she wanted to say something back.

But she couldn't because they were at the dinner table surrounded by people who probably didn't need to hear Claire say that she wanted to have sex with Peter right then and there. She could just picture everyone else in the room but the two of them disappearing and Peter ripping the tablecloth off the table and placing her on top of it. Then the two would have hot sex until…. Stop It Claire, she told herself. This was way too inappropriate to be thinking about at the dinner table, with Micah at her other side. It was just wrong. But she couldn't wait until they would get back to Peter's apartment.

After dinner Claire told Peter that she wasn't feeling well and that she wanted to get back to his apartment. The two said their goodbyes to everyone and stepped outside the apartment. One their way down to the car Peter stopped walking and turned to Claire.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked her.

Claire bit her lip, wondering if Peter would think it was rude that she lied about feeling bad just so that she could get back to Peter's apartment sooner.

"Um, I'm feeling fine… great actually." Claire said.

"But in there you said…" Peter started but Claire leaned up pressing her lips onto his with a bit of force.

"I see you're not mad at me." Peter said pulling away from Claire.

Claire laughed a little "Why would I be mad at you?" she asked him.

"Because I told you that I think I love you." He said "and didn't give you a chance to respond." He added.

"Well…" Claire said running her hands up Peter's chest and stopping when they were wrapped around his neck "I'm just glad you might love me, because I think I might love you too." Claire said.

"You don't have to say that to make me happy, I realize it's very soon." Peter said.

"I know, but ever since I first met you I've felt like we have some sort of undeniable connection… oh wow I sound like a bad soap opera." Claire said stopping mid sentence.

Peter laughed and pulled Claire's body closer to his. He wanted her so much right now.

"I think we should get back to my apartment." Peter said tracing his fingers up her arms.

Claire whole body tingled from his touch. "I definitely agree." She said.

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Claire and Peter arrived at Peter's apartment and practically ran upstairs. Peter closed the front door behind him and turned around seeing Claire a few steps away. The two were silent for a moment, and they stayed in their places. But like they could read each other's thoughts, they ran towards each other at the same moment embracing. Their lips met in a fiery passion as Peter's tongue begged entrance into Claire's mouth. Peter walked Claire backwards and pinned her against the hallway wall. They briefly pulled apart so that Peter could pull off Claire's shirt. He got it off and threw it across the room, and it wasn't long before Claire pulled his face towards hers again, needing him in that exact moment.

Claire slipped her hands under Peter's shirt and tugged upwards on the fabric, a message for Peter to take his shirt off. He did quickly and leaned down burying his head in the area between Claire's neck and shoulder. He slowly trailed kisses along her collarbone as Claire smiled in pleasure. Claire ran her hands across Peter's muscles taking in every inch of him. Peter had his hands on Claire's waist and he slowly wrapped his arms around her and picked her up in the air, swinging her body around. Claire laughed. She took Peter's hands into her own.

"Shall we go to the bedroom?" She asked Peter.

Peter guided her hands, which were in his, and wrapped them around his neck so that she was forced to have her whole body pressed against his.

"Yes." He answered kissing her again on the lips.

The two made out while walking to Peter's room and when they got in, Peter had his arms around Claire's back so that he could lay her gently down on the bed. Claire kicked off her shoes, which she realized were still on and got settled underneath Peter.

"I can't believe we've only done this once." Claire said grinning up at Peter.

"I know." He said shaking his head.

Claire smiled again, and Peter almost couldn't stand how cute she was. He kissed her again, and Claire playfully bit at his bottom lip. Peter ran his hands down Claire's arms, over her breasts and towards the zipper on her jeans. Claire did the same to Peter's pants and before they knew it both were fully naked lying on the bed, and well… the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

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The next morning Claire was lying on Peter's living room couch reading some comics. In her lap she had a bowl of Fruit Loops, which oddly happened to be both Claire and Peter's favorite cereal. Claire had on some velour black pants which were Juicy Couture knock-offs, and an NYU shirt.

Peter walked out of the bathroom, fresh from taking a shower. He was running a towel through his hair and he threw it into his bedroom when he walked by it. He walked to the couch and picked up Claire's feet and sat down where they were, placing them on his lap after he sat down.

"Hello there." Claire said, not being able to help the smile that spread across her face whenever she saw Peter. What could she say, the sex just happened to be great, not to mention the guy was perfect.

"I didn't know you were such an avid newspaper reader." Peter said looking at Claire who looked intent on reading the pages in front of her.

Claire laughed a little to herself "Duh, I'm reading the comics." She said.

"You don't strike me as a comic girl either." Peter said.

"Well I guess I'm just mysterious like that." Claire said raising her eye-brows at Peter.

She was trying her best to look mysterious but she could tell that she just looked foolish.

Claire decided to go back to reading the comics again. At one point she actually laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Peter asked her.

"Garfield, he just always gets me." Claire said shaking her head at Peter.

Peter slipped his hands under the bottom of Claire's pants so that he could run his hand up her leg.

"Peter!" Claire screeched, almost spilling the cereal that was in her lap. She decided it would probably be best to put it on the coffee table next to her.

"Would you mind if I read that?" He asked her pointing to the newspaper in Claire's hands.

"Yes, I'm not finished yet." Claire said.

"Oh that's ok." Peter said crawling on top of Claire, making her laugh hysterically. "I can see it perfectly." He said, his whole body on top of Claire's.

"Yeah, and I can't breathe." Claire said still laughing.

Peter took the paper out of Claire's hands and dropped it on the floor, and re-positioned himself so that his full body weight wasn't all on Claire.

"What happened to reading the paper?" Claire joked, gazing up into Peter's eyes.

Peter shrugged "I like you better." He said leaning down and kissing her. Claire felt around for Peter's hands, which were on the couch, and she placed them on her body, she wanted him to just… touch her. She deepened the kiss. Peter pulled away and kissed Claire's cheek, then her neck. He lingered there for a moment and Claire smiled into his shoulder.

"Ok… We should stop." Claire said suddenly.

"Why?" Peter whined quickly, before going back to kissing Claire's neck.

"Because if we don't now, then I won't be able to for the rest of the day." Claire said… wow Peter was good at what he did.

Instead of stopping Peter just pulled Claire's shirt a little lower and began kissing her there too. Claire moaned in pleasure, and Peter smiled. He liked knowing that it was him that was making her happy.

"Peter…" Claire said pressing her arms against his shoulders to push him away, but not with much force because in her heart she didn't really want him to stop.

"We could just do this all day today Claire." Peter said finally stopping and looking at her. But he still ran his hands up and down her arms.

Claire had to admit; just being like this with Peter all day did sound like a lot of fun… but for some reason it just didn't feel right. She felt too lazy.

"I have an idea." Claire said slipping her arms onto Peter's shoulders.

"Shoot." Peter said kissing her softly on the lips.

"I think we should invite everyone over here for dinner tonight." She said.

Peter squinted his eyes at her in confusion. "I can't cook," He said.

"I can." Claire said excitedly… "Ok I can't really, but I mean I can do like pasta and stuff." She said.

Peter kissed her one last time and then slowly got off of her. Claire felt his warmth leave her body and got a little cold.

"You don't like the idea?" She asked him sitting up.

"No, it's fine. But I seriously can't cook." Peter said.

Claire crawled over to Peter and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind.

"Oh come on." She whispered in his ear "I'll make it fun." She said gently nipping on his ear lobe.

Peter turned his face towards hers "I can't say no to that." He said.

"Yay!" Claire yelled jumping off the couch. "I'm going to go change, and then we're going to go to the store. You call everyone while I'm changing and get them to come at around seven tonight." Claire said walking with a spring in her step off to Peter's bedroom.

"Alright." Peter yelled after her smiling

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Claire and Peter were in Peter's kitchen, with a bunch of food, and not much of an idea on where to start.

"Hmm." Claire said leaning her hands against the counter and looking at all the food she had laid out. Chicken Fettuccine alfredo didn't sound so hard to make. In fact she had made it before, but she had been a few years younger and she had done it with her mom and brother.

Peter came up from behind Claire and wrapped his arms around her waist so that his hands were resting on her stomach.

"I thought you said you knew how to cook." He said softly onto her ear, before placing a light kiss on her neck. Peter loved having Claire around all day, he loved being able to gently slip his arms around her and kiss her whenever he felt like it.

"I'm not freaking Martha Stewart." Claire said.

"That's probably a good thing." Peter said laughing at Claire.

"I can bake, I would consider myself a good baker. But, like, raw chicken. I just don't know what to do with it exactly." Claire said.

"I could call everyone and cancel dinner, and then you and I could just spend the night alone." Peter said kissing her neck again.

Claire turned around in his arms, so that she was leaning against the counter but facing Peter.

"We just bought over one hundred dollars worth of food. We're not canceling. Just give me a second to try and remember how to make the chicken." Claire said playfully punching Peter in the stomach.

He made a fake hurt noise and backed away from Claire.

"Do you want me to start boiling some water for the pasta?" he asked her.

"Sure." Claire answered. "So wait, who all is coming again tonight?"

"Um, Hiro, Ando, Niki, Dl, Micah, and possible Matt." Peter said running some tap water into a pot.

"Jesus, I hope we have enough food." Claire said.

"I hope you can remember how to make the chicken." Peter said placing the pot on the stove.

Claire made an unhappy "grunting" noise. "Do you think we could google it?" She asked Peter.

"I could try the food network website." Peter said.

"Maybe we should just do the fettuccine alfredo, with no chicken." Claire suggested.

"Whatever, I don't care. You're the one making it." Peter said raising his hands up in a sort of innocent gesture.

"Ok, then good. I won't make the chicken." Claire said.

"I thought you said you were going to make this cooking thing fun for me." Peter said taking one of Claire's hands and pulling her over to him.

"You are so sex obsessed." Claire said.

"Ok, all guys are Claire, and obviously you mean more to me than just sex… but I can't help it if I like to make out with you." Peter said.

Claire smiled and laughed at him "ok, you win." She said quickly planting a kiss on his lips.

She slowly walked her fingers up Peter's chest while she said "Later tonight, after everyone's gone from dinner… I promise I'll make it up to you." She wondered if her 'sexy whisper" actually sounded like a good sexy whisper, or if she just sounded like a crazy old woman who smoked too much.

"Claire, you don't have to make it up to me." Peter said, starting to feel a little bad.

Maybe he was putting too much of an emphasis on this whole sex thing. He did really care about Claire… he most likely even loved her. Actually he knew he loved her but he just didn't want to tell her that he did for sure, because he was afraid it would freak her out. There was a time and place for the first real I Love You to be said, and trying to cook in the kitchen with Claire just wasn't that time or place.

"Oh but I want to." She said leaning into him and kissing him again. "But not right now, because I have to figure out how to make dinner for like a billion people in about two hours time." She said… oh god, maybe this whole dinner thing was a bad idea. Well it was too late now. She'd just have to get through it.

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Claire and Peter finished making dinner; Claire even had time to make a chocolate cake. She had heard that was Micah's favorite… and Hiro's. Claire changed into a simple red dress and black heels and put her curly hair up into a nice ponytail.

Peter put on the dress shirt that was of course Claire's favorite and the one she always somehow ended up wearing.

"I think that shirt looks better on me." Claire said while putting the dish with the pasta in it, out on the little table Peter had.

Peter laughed, "I agree." He said grabbing the tray of garlic bread and also placing it on the table, as there was a knock on the door.

"Our first guest." Claire said clapping her hands together in excitement. She walked over to the door and opened it to see Hiro and Ando standing there.

"Claire!" Hiro said excitedly, this being the first time he had seen her since the Sylar incident.

"Hi Hiro, and Ando." Claire said embracing both of them at the same time.

"Claire, we are so glad you're ok." Hiro said.

"Aw, thanks guys." Claire said smiling sweetly. These two guys were too nice.

"Hello Peter." Hiro said walking into the apartment, making sure to wipe his feet off before he did. Ando followed closely behind.

"Hi." Peter said over to them.

Claire was about to close the door but she saw Niki walking down the hallway.

"Hey Niki." Claire said hugging Niki shortly as she came in.

"Hi, wow you look gorgeous girl." Niki said and Claire laughed because Niki sounded just like Jen… thinking about Jen reminded her that she needed to talk to her soon about… well everything.

"Thank you, where's Dl and Micah?" Peter asked Niki.

"Oh." Niki sighed as if she had some great big story to tell. "Well Micah has this little friend from school, named Angela." Niki said raising her eyebrows at Claire and Peter.

"Uh oh." Claire said jokingly.

"Anyway, he wanted to go on a play-date with her tonight so he's over at her house and Dl said he didn't feel well. So I'm kind of mad at both of them for bailing." Niki said.

"Yeah… I made chocolate cake just for Micah." Claire said.

"Hey." Hiro said offended.

"Oh and of course you too Hiro." Claire said looking over at Hiro and Ando who were looking at a book on one of Peter's shelves.

"So I guess it's an all adult night." Niki said.

"Great." Peter said, "We can go ahead and eat. I've been slaving over the hot stove all day to make you guys this meal." Peter said.

Claire shot him a cold look "Oh shut up!" She said.

"Just kidding, Claire totally did it all." Peter said massaging Claire's shoulders for a second in an apologetic way.

"Of course she did." Niki said "Men, they can never do anything right." Niki said quietly to Claire.

Claire and Niki shared a laugh as Peter, Hiro, and Ando all exchanged glances as they sat at the table.

"This looks very good Claire." Ando said.

"Thanks." She said, maybe this cooking thing was a good idea after all.

"Oh my god, I just got such a good idea of what we should do after dinner." Niki said, her eyes lighting up.

"What?" Peter asked her.

"Charades." Niki said excitedly.

"As in the game?" Peter asked her, thinking he must be wrong.

"Yes! I haven't played that since I was like sixteen years old." Niki said.

"That sounds so fun." Claire said.

"Absolutely not." Peter said suddenly "I can't do charades."

"Aw, why did you have bad experience?" Claire asked, poking fun at him.

"No, I'm just not very good at that game." Peter said.

"Well we could always do truth or dare instead." Niki said shrugging her shoulders.

Peter immediately shot a look at her "Let's stick with charades. Truth or dare always ends up getting people in trouble."

"It's true." Hiro said, suddenly jumping into the conversation.

Claire, Niki, and Peter all practically did a double take to Hiro.

"Oh really? Do tell." Claire said to Hiro.

"When I was little… bad times. I don't really want to talk about it." Hiro said.

"Ok, well we can just play charades then." Claire said taking a bite of her pasta.

Table conversations went on… and on. Claire found herself kind of bored so she slipped her hand under the table and onto Peter's knee; he was sitting right beside her.

Peter almost jumped at her touch.

She slowly moved her hand up his leg.

"So the weather's supposed to start getting pretty nasty soon." Niki said.

Claire nodded her head and looked over at Peter, who was staring at Claire… a look that was telling Claire to stop or else he would probably lose it.

"I'm excited for there to be some snow though." Niki said.

"Sure." Claire said moving her hand even higher.

Peter cleared his throat. "Um, I'm going to go to the bathroom. Let's play charades soon though." Peter said getting up as quickly as possible and walking away. It took all Claire had to keep herself from breaking down into laughter.

"Come on Claire, I'll help you clear the table." Niki said getting up and starting to pick all the plates up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiro, Ando, Peter, and Niki were all sitting on the couch in Peter's living room. It was Claire's turn for charades and she had just drawn her slip of paper with her charade on it.

Claire made the sign for movie and Peter got that part. Claire got down on the floor and started acting like a monkey, going a little bit crazy.

"Crazy?" Niki guessed.

"Um… Claire Bennet?" Peter joked. Claire's mouth dropped open in shock and she shook her head at Peter.

"No, Dumb ass." She said, but she couldn't help smiling. She continued acting like a monkey.

"Um, monkey." Niki guessed. Claire signaled that it was kind of right. Niki went on guessing until she got Apes.

Claire thought about what to do next and then Ando shouted out "Planet of the Apes."

"Oh my god, that's right." Claire said. "How did you get it so fast?"

"Just guessed." Ando said blushing a little.

"You're turn Peter." Claire said pushing him to stand up. She knew how much Peter hated charades, so she was totally loving teasing him about it.

Peter sighed, groaned, and moaned as he got up. He drew out a piece of paper from the hat.

"Oh, come on." Claire said to Peter.

"Haven't we been playing this for long enough?" peter asked her.

"Actually maybe he's right. I should probably be getting home." Niki said.

"Me too." Hiro said.

"Oh… Well I see how it is." Claire joked.

"Thank you so much for having us over here." Niki said standing up.

"No problem." Peter said walking Niki, Hiro, and Ando over to the door.

"We should definitely do this again soon." Claire said.

Everyone said their goodbyes and Claire closed the door after everyone was safely out.

"You can whine all you want, but I know you had fun tonight." Claire said turning to Peter.

He shrugged, but then smiled at Claire "Yeah, I did. It was a good idea." He said walking over to Claire.

"I'm kind of glad they're gone though." Claire said leaning against the door.

"Oh and why is that?" Peter asked her.

"Because now I have you all to myself." She said placing her arms around Peter's neck

Peter pulled her closer to him and leaned down to kiss her.

"Maybe tonight we should start in the bedroom." Claire said

"Another good idea." Peter said picking Claire up in his arms making her laugh. He carried her into the bedroom and dropped her on the bed.

Peter laid down beside Claire and she rolled over and got on top of him, straddling him.

She leaned down and unbuttoned one button at a time on his shirt, placing a kiss on his chest where each button had previously been. Peter took his shirt off once all the buttons were undone, and he lifted Claire up so that he could kiss her on the lips.

He traced his hands down her arms and onto her waist lifting her dress up and over her head. Peter rolled the two of them over so that he was on top of her and he began to kiss her neck. Peter and Claire's bodies seemed to be as one. Peter trailed kisses lower and lower and Claire moaned in pleasure.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Peter stopped kissing her and looked up.

"Don't stop." Claire said with some urgency. Peter looked down at her pleading face and smiled.

"Sorry." He said going back to kissing her again, but there was another knock on the door. Peter laid his head down on Claire's stomach and sighed.

"I should get that." He said.

"Yeah." Claire said unhappily. Peter slowly got off of Claire. He slipped on his button down shirt and walked out of the room. Claire pulled some sheets around her almost naked body.

Peter opened the door and saw Jen standing there with two bags by her side.

"Hi, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I didn't have anywhere else to go." Jen said hesitantly.

Peter was really confused but he opened the door wider and let Jen in.

"I'll go get Claire." Peter said walking back to his bedroom. A minute later Claire had thrown on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and practically ran out to see Jen.

"Jen, hey, what are you doing here?" Claire asked Jen while hugging her.

"Um, the guy I was staying with kind of kicked me out, and I didn't think I should go back to our dorm but I didn't have anywhere else to go so I just came here. I'm really sorry, because I know you two want your privacy…" Jen said but Claire cut her off.

"Jen, please, it's fine." Claire said.

"Yeah, I'd much rather you stay here then at the dorm." Peter said from where he was standing.

"Ok, it'll probably just be for tonight. I'm sure I can find someone else to stay with by tomorrow night." Jen said.

"You don't need to do that Jen." Claire said reassuringly.

Jen laughed nervously "Ok… well thank you guys so much."

"Sure, I'm going to go um, read some stuff. You guys should talk." Peter said.

"I'll be in there later." Claire said watching him go and then turning to Jen.

"So what happened with this guy?" Claire asked Jen.

"He just got mad, and kicked me out. It's ok though; he obviously wasn't really the guy I thought he was. Not that I knew him well enough to know what kind of a guy he was." Jen said.

"I'm sorry Jen." Claire said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Claire, there's kind of something more important I need to talk to you about." Jen said lowering her voice.

"What is it?"

"It's about this whole Jesse situation." Jen said, a serious tone in her voice.

"Yeah, what about it?" Claire asked Jen.

"Everyone at school thinks you killed him." Jen said.

Claire leaned back in shock.

"I didn't do it Jen." Claire said with force.

"Claire, I know… But I mean I'm just warning you." Jen said.

"I think there are some things I should tell you." Claire said.

_Ok so next chapter Claire might be revealing some powers to Jen, and there will be some more good stuff, always some paire too. Please review if you can… I'll try to update quicker this time. Thanks, Bye_


	9. The World Spins Madly On

The World Spins Madly On.- Chapter 9.

_Hello lovely readers. I'm so very sorry its taken me awhile to update but I've just been so darn busy haha. Thank you super much for the reviews last time please keep that up. I really take your thoughts into my writing and inspiration. Anyway enough of me, read and enjoy!..._

Claire placed her hands in her lap and took in a deep breath. It was time to tell Jen about her powers. But the reason Claire was so nervous wasn't because she was afraid Jen would tell the world, but because she was afraid Jen would think she was crazy, and wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore.

"Jen, this is probably going to sound totally weird, and you're going to think I'm insane, but…. I have special… abilities." Claire said, choosing each of her words carefully.

Jen had a blank stare on her face, but finally she shook her head out of it "What the hell does that mean, were you in like the gifted and talented class in elementary school?" Jen asked her jokingly.

"No." Claire said shaking her head "I can't get hurt." Claire said quickly.

"Claire, are you on crazy pills?" Jen asked her placing a hand on her knee.

"Come here." Claire said taking Jen's hand and leading her into the kitchen. Claire took a knife out of the kitchen drawer and held it above her wrist.

"Claire, stop!" Jen screamed pulling Claire's hand away from the knife before Claire could cut her arm.

"Jen it's ok." Claire said reassuringly.

"I'm not going to watch you kill yourself." Jen said, in a serious panic "Peter." She yelled.

"Jen… trust me I won't die." Claire said looking her straight in the eye. A second later Peter was in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking startled.

"Peter she's trying to kill herself." Jen said pointing to Claire who had a large knife in her hand. Claire quickly took the opportunity and made about a three-inch long gash in her arm.

Jen practically screamed, but her eyes widened when she saw Claire's skin slowly start to reform and the blood dissolve away.

"See, I told you." Claire said after a moment.

Jen was completely silent and her eyes were still glued to Claire's wrist, which now looked completely normal.

"How did you do that?" Jen stuttered to ask. "Is this some sort of sick prank?"

"No" Claire said immediately "I have the ability to regenerate, or heal whatever you want to call it." Claire said.

"That's impossible." Jen said, she turned to Peter who was watching this whole scene play out intently "Did you know about this?" she asked him.

Peter looked over at Claire, who looked as if she was regretting her decision to tell Jen about this.

"Yeah, I can kind of do it too." Peter said.

Jen's mouth dropped open "No, I don't believe this. It's physically impossible. You guys are trying to trick me or something." Jen said.

"Listen to me Jen. I have this power, and Peter does too. And we have friends who have other powers just like us. The guy who killed Jesse, he came after me because he wanted my power." Claire said stopping at that point because she wondered if she was loading too much on Jen at one time.

"You're 'power'? Claire what are you talking about? People don't have powers." Jen said.

"We do." Peter said taking a step towards Claire and Jen, who looked as pale as a ghost.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I wasn't sure that I could. Jen I'm pretty much as confused as you are. One day I just woke up with this… ability… and now my whole life is changed." Claire said.

"Yeah, well so is mine. I didn't know anything like this was even remotely possible." Jen said.

"Just wait till you find out what our friends can do." Peter said.

Jen shook her head in fear "Please don't tell me. At least not tonight, I can't handle anymore weirdness."

"I understand if you want to change roommates or whatever. I've already caused you enough trouble as it is." Claire said.

Jen was silent for a moment before she smiled lightly and said, "Are you kidding me? I know I'm freaked our right now, but you have like superhuman powers. I don't want to change roommates at all." Jen said.

"Good." Claire said, feeling the weight ton of bricks being lifted off of her.

"Now, it's going to take me awhile to get used to, but I do want to meet all the other people who have powers." Jen said.

"Of course, I'm sure they'd love to meet you." Peter said.

"Sweet." Jen said.

"But um, Jen we'd rather you not tell anyone about this. As I'm sure you can tell, it's kind of a weird and complicated situation." Claire said.

"Claire I promise I won't tell anyone. I understand… well kind of." Jen said, her mood was much lighter and happier now. More like the normal Jen.

"I'm pretty tired, I think I'm going to get to bed." Peter said. "If you guys want we can go check out your dorm room tomorrow."

"Sure." Jen said.

"Yeah, I'll be in there in a second Peter." Claire said as Peter nodded to Claire and Jen and left the room.

"Do people at school seriously think that I killed Jesse?" Claire asked Jen immediately after Peter left.

Jen hesitated in her answer "Yeah, pretty much. I'll set them straight if you want me to." Jen said.

"No, it's ok. I have to talk to the police soon. Hopefully this whole thing will be sorted out soon." Claire said crossing her arms.

All she had moved to New York for was a normal life, and here she was dating a guy ten years older then her, part of a sex tape scandal, almost a victim of rape, and then of death by a crazy guy who wanted to take her powers… and now everyone suspected her of murder. Yeah life was looking pretty 'normal' at this point.

"When are you going to go back to classes?" Jen asked Claire making her way over to the couch.

"Probably soon. I really don't want to though." Claire said.

Jen nodded her head "I'm sure teachers will understand if you want more time off."

"I'm already so behind though. Ugh it's stressing me out, I think I'm going to get to bed."

"Ok… but please try to keep the sounds of sex low for my sake." Jen said.

Claire laughed "I think we'll skip that part tonight and just sleep."

"Oh thank god, hearing other people have sex is like my least favorite thing in the world." Jen said.

Claire raised her eyebrows "Is this a regular occurrence for you?" Claire asked Jen.

"No." Jen laughed "Just happened once, and it SUCKED"

"Ok, well you're in luck tonight." Claire said starting to leave.

"Oh and Claire… I do still want details on you and Peter." Jen said.

"Girl, there's so much I need to tell you." Claire said.

Jen clapped her hands together in excitement "That means the sex is good right?"

Claire laughed more "Yeah… it is."

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The next day Claire, Jen, and Peter all drove over to Claire and Jen's dorm building to check out their room. When they got outside the door to their room Claire got chills. It was so weird to be standing there even though it had only been a few days since the terrible experience. For some reason she felt like everything was different now.

Jen took in a deep breath and opened the door.

Claire closed her eyes for a second before walking in. Peter lightly tugged at her arm to get her to come in, and she was forced to open her eyes.

The room looked… exactly the same as it did when she first moved in. There was no more broken glass, and all of Jesse's blood was gone. The police did a good job on that one. But still things felt different; the room didn't feel like it was hers anymore. Claire felt like she was in a stranger's room.

"Wow, it looks pretty good." Peter said breaking Claire out of her inner thoughts.

"Yeah." Jen said scanning every inch of the room. "Almost nothing has even been moved, it's weird."

Claire slowly walked over to her bed and sat down. It wasn't so long ago that Jesse had pushed her onto the bed and… god why did she have to think about that right now.

"Are you ok Claire?" Peter asked, sitting down next to her.

She nodded her head slowly "I'm good."

"When do you think we can start staying here again?" Jen asked Peter, taking a seat on her bed.

"I should talk to Matt, but I'm pretty sure you can move back in tonight." Peter said.

Claire sat up a little straighter. She had no idea she'd be moving back here so soon. She wasn't sure she was ready to leave Peter's apartment yet.

"Good, because I feel bad staying at your apartment." Jen said "and I want my roommate back." Jen said flashing Claire a smile.

All of the sudden Jen's cell phone started ringing to the tune of Glamorous by Fergie.

"Sorry, I should get this." Jen said getting up and walking into the bathroom to answer it.

Peter took Claire's hand into his own and turned to her.

"If you're going to move back here, then I have to take you out to dinner tonight." Peter said nuzzling his face into her neck as he whispered his suggestion.

Claire smiled into his hair; Peter could always make her feel so much better.

Claire ran her hands through Peter's hair. Peter planted a light kiss on her neck before leaning his head up and looking at her.

"I owe you a date anyways." He said.

"You don't owe me anything." Claire said giving him a cute smile "But I'd love to go to dinner with you anyway."

Peter leaned his forehead against Claire's and kissed her.

"Ew, get a room." Jen said jokingly as she walked back in the room. Peter and Claire immediately broke apart.

"Sorry." Claire said.

"I was totally kidding. I'm going out with this guy tonight, but I'll be back later tonight though." Jen said grabbing some stuff from her desk and throwing it into her purse.

"Jen, how many guys do you freaking know?" Claire asked Jen. It was like every night Jen was out with someone new.

"What can I say, I'm a friendly person, and New York has friendly guys." Jen said shrugging innocently.

Peter let out a small laugh to himself.

"Oh shut up. I'm leaving now." Jen said waving bye to Peter and Claire.

"Oh god, sometimes I worry about that girl." Claire said shaking her head.

"Well she can have her fun tonight…" Peter said running his hand up Claire's thigh "And we'll have ours."

Claire pulled Peter's face to hers and kissed him.

"Ok, you should change… wear something nice." Peter said.

"I always wear something nice." Claire said hopping off of the bed and walking over to her closet which most of her clothes were still in.

"If that's what you think." Peter joked.

Claire turned to face Peter and gave him a mad look. She grabbed a T-shirt from her closed and threw it at Peter.

"Well you're ugly." She tried.

"Ouch." Peter said sarcastically "Someone doesn't seem to think so." He countered.

"I'm only with you for the sex." Claire said, knowing that would get a rise out of Peter.

"No you didn't," He said fakely acting gay causing Claire to almost fall over laughing

"What's so funny?" he asked her walking over to her and starting to tickle her.

"Peter, I hate you." She said. He just always had to tickle her.

"Aw Claire, you're so cute." Peter said.

Claire finally wiggled her way out of Peter's ticking hands and once she got her breath back she hit him on the arm.

"You know I'm really ticklish." Claire said.

"Yeah, and I love it." He said laughing.

"Ugh, you so suck." She said rolling her eyes at him "I need to change."

"You know I was just kidding about earlier right. You always look perfect to me." Peter said a little more seriously.

Claire felt her knees give out a little "Thanks that was really sweet." She said.

Peter wanted so much to tell her he loved her right then and there, but he decided he'd wait till later. He wanted the moment to be perfect.

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Claire and Peter walked into a small Italian restaurant. The walls had murals of Paris, and small countryside houses on it. The restaurant was dimly lit by candles, and there was soft romantic music playing in the background of couple's conversations floating around the room. The whole place screamed Romance.

Claire slowly took her jacket off from the cold outside wind and placed it on her arm. She was wearing a knee length deep purple satin skirt, and flowy white top.

"Oh my god, this place is adorable." Claire said softly to Peter, who slipped his arm around her and guided her over to a table by a small fireplace.

"I know, Nathan knows the owners, so I got us the best table in the place." Peter said pulling Claire's chair out for her.

"I heard chivalry was dead." Claire said as she took her seat.

"Well you heard wrong." Peter said sitting down across from her.

A smile spread across Claire's face. Her face glowed in the light of the candle on the table, and Peter thought she looked amazing as she pushed a strand of her golden curls behind her ear.

Peter lost all thought as he gazed at Claire and he suddenly let the words "I love you" slip out of his mouth.

Claire looked up from her menu. She stuttered out a "what?"

This wasn't how Peter had planned this, but oh well sometimes you just have to go with the flow "I told you I thought I loved you at Niki's. Well ever since then I've known."

Claire had a kind of blank stare on her face and Peter wondered if he moving to fast, but he couldn't help the actions his heart was telling his brain to make him do. Peter reached across the table and took Claire's hands into his own, rubbing small circles on the top of her hands.

"I know I love you now Claire. And you don't have to say it back." Peter said leaning forward to emphasize his point "But I just need you to know that I do. I love you."

Claire was silent for a moment, only letting her head think about the feel of Peter's fingers tracing circles on her hands, and the three little words I love you, that he had just said to her.

Finally she got up and walked around to Peter's side of the table and planted a big kiss on his lips "I love you too." She said, with hints of innocence coming out with her words.

Claire had never been in love before. She didn't know what exactly love was. But what she did know was that Peter made her feel something no other guy had ever made her feel. She knew she had a strong connection with Peter. As cheesy as it sounded, she felt like they just had to be soul mates or something of that sort.

Peter took Claire's face into his hands and traced his thumbs down her cheekbones.

"You're so beautiful." He said.

"Stop." She insisted.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because if you don't I'm going to rip you're clothes off right now and make love to you in front of all these people." Claire said all under her breath to Peter.

He leaned back and smiled, thinking he wouldn't mind that too much.

"Well you should go sit back down, or else I won't be able to keep my hands off of you." Peter said letting his hands run down her arms.

Claire smiled as she got up and took her seat again.

There was a small moment of silence before Claire spoke again.

"God peter, I don't want to go back to my dorm."

"Why not?" He asked her leaning forward in his chair.

"I love Jen. She's crazy but I love her. But I love you too, and staying at your apartment made me feel so safe, not to mention I just like to be with you. I just don't want to leave you." Claire said. Claire felt she was starting to turn her life into a soap opera again.

"I'm glad you feel safe with me Claire, and I love being with you too. But you should get back to your dorm and start going to school again." Peter said, even though he didn't really want her to leave either.

"I know you're right." Claire said pouting and looking down.

"But you can always come over to my apartment." Peter said lightly.

Claire laughed a little "Well of course."

"When I say that I mean you have to come over to my apartment. Every day." He joked.

"Don't worry. I plan to." She joked back.

"But seriously Claire. If you ever don't feel safe, please call me or just come over." Peter said.

"Ok… I will." She said. "Now let's get some food. I'm starving."

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Claire got back to her apartment, and Jen wasn't back yet. Being in there alone was definitely not fun. Claire had to check every corner of the room and the shower, just in case Sylar was lurking somewhere.

She changed into some pink Hollister sweat pants and a tight hoodie. Dinner with Peter was amazing, and she totally wished she were over at his apartment right now, snuggled into his warm body instead of alone in her cold creepy dorm room. Claire climbed into her bed and wrapped the covers tightly around herself.

She had turned the light off so the room was basically pitch black. She heard something rustle in the room and sat up quickly. This was just not going to work out. She jumped out of her bed and turned on the light holding her breath in case Sylar was going to pop out at her. But no one was there. It was just her, all alone in her room. Claire slipped on some shoes and grabbed her purse, heading out of her room.

She ended up just starting to drive and before she knew it she found herself standing outside the door of Peter's apartment. She knocked on the door, anxious to get inside.

She felt like Sylar was following her the whole way there.

After what seemed like hours Peter finally opened the door.

"Thank god." She let out as she pushed her way into his apartment.

"Claire?" He asked confused.

Claire was pacing his living room "I am so sorry Peter. I know I'm off to a really bad start with this whole staying at my dorm thing but…" Claire stopped mid sentence because she was out of breath.

Peter closed the door quietly and walked over to her wrapping his arms around her and stroking her hair.

"Jen wasn't there, and I was all alone. I just got scared Sylar was going to come and…." Claire started but she was stopped by a gently "Shh" from Peter. He pulled her body closer to his and held her tighter.

"I had a feeling the first night would be hard for you." Peter said.

Claire let out a breath into Peter's chest "Yeah." She said.

"Why don't you just stay here tonight?" Peter suggested. Claire pulled away from him.

"Do you mind?" She asked.

He shook his head strongly "I want you to feel safe." He said.

"To be honest, you're the only person that makes me feel safe" Claire said resting her body weight against Peter's.

"Well I love you Claire, and believe me. I won't let Sylar hurt you again." Peter said rubbing her back.

Claire lingered in Peter's strong arms for a little longer. It was totally true; Peter made her feel so safe. Being in his arms was one of the best feelings. She finally pulled away, and looked around the room.

"Is it raining?" she asked as she did a double take to the window. "No, oh my god. Is it snowing?" She asked as she stepped closer to the window.

Peter followed her "Yeah I think so." Peter said casually, used to this whole snow thing.

"Peter!" Claire practically screamed, "I've never seen snow before." She said jumping in the air.

"Well get used to it. I guess today's the start of the snowfall." Peter said.

"Come on." She said taking his hand and pulling him to the door.

"Where are we going?" he asked her.

"Outside." She said, with a 'duh' tone in her voice.

Peter sighed but smiled as he followed Claire out of his apartment. The two made it outside and Claire ran onto the sidewalk.

She held out her arms and tilted her head up to the sky feeling the snow fall on her.

"Oh my god, I love it." She said.

"It's freezing out here." Peter said, all he had on was a short sleeve t-shirt seeing as Claire didn't give him time to grab a jacket on their way out.

Claire ignored his comment and started spinning around in the snow "Why aren't you exited. There's like ice falling out of the sky." Claire said spinning her way to Peter.

"I'm kind of used to the whole snow thing." Peter said.

"Well I think it's fucking awesome." Claire said pushing Peter just for fun. Peter took a hold of her hands and pulled her over to him.

"You want me to warm you up?" She asked him seductively.

"Sure." He said smiling. Claire smiled too and met his lips with hers pushing her tongue into his mouth. The two shared a fiery kiss, sure to melt the snow around them… well obviously not literally.

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The next morning Claire woke up freezing cold. Peter's apartment must've been at least negative 30 degrees. She turned over and saw Peter asleep facing her. Claire scooted over to him and nuzzled her body against his, waking him up.

"Sorry." Claire said once she realized she had woken him up.

Peter wrapped one of her arms around Claire's body pulling her closer "It's ok." He mumbled, still groggy from sleep.

Claire leaned her forehead against Peter's and kissed him softly.

"It's freezing in here." She said.

"I'm not that cold." Peter said rubbing Claire's arm to make her warmer.

"Ugh, you're weird." Claire said pulling herself away from Peter and hopping out of the bed. On her way over to change the temperature she looked out Peter's bedroom window and saw white, everywhere. There must've been a big snowstorm during the night because the ground outside was covered in snow.

"Peter, there's snow everywhere." Claire said jumping in the air.

Peter brought himself to a sitting position in the bed.

"Let's go outside." Claire said running and jumping back onto the bed.

"In the snow?" Peter asked her.

"Yeah, come on. I've never gotten to play in snow before." Claire said. She pouted with her bottom lip at Peter and pressed her hands together in a pleading gesture.

Pete nodded his head "Alright, let's go." He said.

Claire and Peter put on some warm clothing and headed outside. There were some cars passing by but not very many people on the street. There was probably about a foot or so of snow on the ground.

"Oh, it's so pretty." Claire said, "I love this."

Claire took out Peter's digital camera and snapped a picture of the snow.

"Smile Peter." Claire said aiming the camera at Peter.

"Oh god." Peter groaned.

"Shut up, you're hot and you know it." Claire said taking a picture of him.

"Well thanks." Peter said grabbing Claire's hand and pulling her over to him. Claire held her arm out with the camera in it, and pressed her face close to Peter's.

"Last one, I promise." Claire said smiling at the camera and at the very last second Peter turned his face and kissed Claire's cheek when the picture flashed, leaving her with a surprised face in the final picture.

"Huh! I totally want to make a snowman." Claire said flashing a huge smile as the idea dawned on her.

"If you don't have gloves, it's going to suck." Peter said.

"Well you suck." Claire said packing a snowball into her hand and throwing it at Peter.

"Claire!" Peter said grabbing some snow and making it into a snowball.

"Don't you dare Peter Petrelli." Claire said pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Try and stop me." He said getting ready to throw it at her. Claire started to run away and Peter aimed and shot it at her. Claire screamed as it hit her.

"Ow." Claire whined.

Peter smiled at her "Sorry, it had to be done." He said shrugging.

"I hate you." Claire joked.

"Well I love you." Peter said back.

"Aw." Claire made her way over to Peter and slipped her arms around his back.

From the top of the rooftop about fifteen stories high stood the one and only Sylar. He stood watching Peter and Claire embrace each other, laughing and having fun.

A devious smile spread across his face, along with a glint in his eye that meant he was up to no good.

"I'm coming for you Claire and Peter… Just you wait." He said to himself, ending off his sentence with an evil chuckle, his breath white as it entered the air.

_SORRY about the cliffhanger. I know people don't like those but I had to do it. I will try to update in less than a week, reviews help… haha anyways thanks for reading, BYE_


	10. Smile Like You Mean It

Chapter 10- Smile Like You Mean it

_Hey guys, sorry for the lull in updates. Thanks so much for the reviews they were very nice and supportive… so keep that up awesome readers. Read and enjoy…_

Claire sat in her dorm room at her desk uploading pictures of her and Peter playing in the snow. It had been a week since then and Claire was now able to stay in her dorm room, even when Jen wasn't there… although it helped a lot when she was.

The whole situation with the police and Jesse was still a sketchy one. With a lot of effort the police concluded that Claire couldn't have killed Jesse so that made Claire feel somewhat better. But she was still getting dirty looks when she went to class, and could pratctically feel the gossip that was being whispered behind her back by kids. She thought college was supposed to be better, but it was turning out just like high school.

"Oh my god, Jen come look at this picture." Claire said waving her hand in a motion to get her butt out of her bed and come over to her.

Jen pranced over to Claire and leaned her hands on Claire's chair to look at the picture.

"Aw, Claire that is too damn cute." Jen said ruffling Claire's hair.

"I know." Claire said admiring the picture of her and Peter where she was smiling at the camera a little surprised because Peter was kissing her cheek.

"My little Claire, has the cutest boyfriend ever!" Jen said laughing.

Claire didn't say anything to Jen, but she smiled to herself. It was true, she totally had the best, cutest, whatever good adjective there is, boyfriend ever.

Claire's phone started to ring to the tune of This Boy by James Morrison. It was Peter's ring-tone.

"Hey Peter." Claire said answering it.

"Oooohhh." Jen said dramatically "a little phone sex?" She asked.

"Shut up." Claire mouthed to Jen who laughed and went off to the bathroom.

"Sorry, what's up?" Claire asked Peter.

Peter informed Claire that he was in fact standing outside of Claire's dorm and he was wondering if she would come down and see him.

Claire hung up the phone and put on her tan jacket that was laying on her bed.

"I'm going over to Peter's for a little Jen. See you later tonight." Claire yelled to Jen.

"Ok bye, Chica." Jen said from the bathroom.

Claire grabbed her phone and purse and headed out the door.

She got outside, to the freezing cold air and the snow-covered ground.

She saw Peter standing a few steps away and she walked over to him. It had been a couple of says since she had last seen him because their schedules kept clashing.

"Well hello." Claire said.

"Hey." Peter said while letting a breath out. He casually pulled placed his hands on Claire's waist and pulled her body towards his. He quickly leaned his face towards Claire's letting his lips barely brush against hers before fully pressing them into her lips.

Claire placed her arms on Peter's shoulders and got closer to him.

"I've missed that." Peter said finally pulling away from her.

"Me too." Claire said kissing him again quickly. "Can we go to your place?"

"Sure." Peter said taking Claire's hand and walking her over to his car.

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Claire and Peter made their way up to Peter's apartment and walked inside shaking some of the snow off of their jackets.

"God, it is not easy getting used to this cold weather thing." Claire said throwing her jacket onto the floor. Peter shut the door and walked over to Claire rubbing his hands up and down her arms to warm her up.

"Oh thanks." Claire said.

"Speaking of thanks, thanksgiving is coming soon." Peter said.

"Nice seg-way." Claire joked while walking over to Peter's couch and taking a seat.

"Do you have any plans?" Peter asked Claire, sitting down next to her.

"Um… actually I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Claire said turning to face Peter. She placed her hands on Peter's chest and sat on her knees facing him.

"See I got a call from none other then my mother yestruday, and she wants to fly me home for Thanksgiving." Claire said, her face anxious to see Peter's reaction.

"Do you want to go?" Peter asked her, placing his hands over hers.

Claire thought about Peter's question for a few seconds "Yeah, I do." She said.

"I miss my mom and my brother… and my dad." Claire said.

"I know you do." Peter said gently touching his thumb to Claire's face in a caring gesture  
"I just don't think I want you to travel alone. It's not safe right now." Peter said.

"Oh please, I'll be fine." Claire said, mentally adding that she was NOT five years old.

"Claire." Peter said with a very serious undertone "Sylar is still out there, and I don't mean to scare you but he's not going to leave us alone for too much longer." Peter said.

"I'm not scared of him." Claire boasted.

"Claire." Peter said giving her the look that said 'you know you are scared of him'.

Claire pouted and let her body fall onto Peter. She rested her head against Peter's chest and he slipped an arm around her shoulder bringing her in closer.

"So what if I'm scared of him. I can't let him ruin my entire life." Claire said quietly.

Peter sighed letting his chin rest on Claire's head. "I know Claire, but I couldn't stand losing you." Peter said.

"Aw, Peter. You're not going to lose me." Claire said lifting her head up from his chest and looking into his eyes.

"I didn't do enough to take care of you last time Claire." Peter said running his hands through her hair.

"There was nothing more you could've done Peter. Stop blaming yourself." Claire said, already feeling like it was all her fault was enough to go through.

"I know, but I just don't want that to happen to you again." Peter said.

Claire softly kissed Peter on the lips "It won't."

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The next day Isaac Mendez sat alone in his apartment. He had a paintbrush in hand and all of the sudden he felt compelled to just paint. He began making random strokes everywhere and didn't really regain conciousness until the painting was done.

Isaac leaned back in his chair and rubbed his fingers over his tired eyes. Everything came back into focus and Isaac was able to look at the picture he had just painted.

It was of Claire… Just of Claire. She was sitting by herself at a coffee table, dressed in a long sleeved black T-shirt and dark jeans, idly sipping coffee or something of that sort.

The door to Isaac's apartment swung open and a tired looking Simone walked inside.

"I hate New York." Simone cried as she dropped some shopping bags on the floor.

Isaac quickly placed his new painting face down on the table.

"Why?" he asked.

"I went out to get one simple t-shirt and it took me over an hour and a half. The people in this town are driving me crazy." Simone said walking over to the refrigerater to get some food out to make for dinner that night.

"I'm sorry baby." Isaac said taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Did you paint something today?" Simone asked him casually, pointing to the face down painting on the table.

"Um, nothing special." Isaac said "Actually it's pretty stupid, I think I'm going to throw it away." Isaac said starting to pick the painting up.

"Wait, let me see it." Simone said looking at Isaac quizzically. He usually always let her look at his paintings. Isaac gave up and decided to hand the painting over to Simone whose jaw dropped when she saw the girl portrayed in the picture.

"Please tell me this isn't…"

"Claire? It is." Isaac said finishing Simone's sentence.

"Why the hell did you paint this of Claire?" Simone asked him.

Isaac shrugged "I don't know why I paint anything."

Simone eyed Isaac, trying to read his thoughts but it wasn't working. She was no Parkman.

"Maybe it has something to do with Sylar." Isaac suggested, he could tell Simone was getting pissed.

"Don't be a smart ass, the girl… who is an eighteen year old girl if I may remind you, is sitting by herself and drinking coffee." Simone said tossing the painting to the floor.

"Simone, calm down please." Isaac said reaching for her hand but she took a step back from him.

"I need to go the grocery store, we're all out of food." Simone said breezing past Isaac and grabbing her coat and purse "I'll be back as soon as I can." She said coldly before leaving.

Isaac let out a big breath after the door closed. He leaned down and picked up the discarded painting. He had told Simone he didn't know why he had painted it, but truthfully ever since he had saved Claire he couldn't stop thinking about her. He wasn't sure why, but his mind wouldn't stay away from Claire.

Isaac glanced at the painting one last time before picking up his phone and finding Claire's cell phone number that he had gotten from Peter.

He called her and she answered after the second ring.

"Hello?" She said, not knowing who it was.

"Claire? It's Isaac." He said…feelings of being an insecure high school boy were suddenly flooding back to him.

"Oh, hi. How are you?" Claire asked sweetely.

"Good…" Isaac paused and stuggled for more words, why had he called Claire again?

"Um, that's good." Claire said breaking the silence.

"So look, I know Peter wouldn't like this, but I've been meaning to ask you if we could meet somewhere and just talk about the investigation and everything with Sylar. I honestly have no idea whats going on with any of that." Isaac said.

"Um, sure." Claire said hesitantly on the other end of the phone.

Isaac ran his hands through his hair "Peter's welcome to come to, it just might be a little awkward." Isaac said.

"No, I doubt he'd want to come. But I'm busy tonight, so how about if we meet at the little coffee shop on the corner of 42nd street in like twenty minutes?" Claire asked.

"Oh, sure. I can do that." Isaac said surprised.

"Ok, see you there soon." Claire said and hung up.

Isaac closed his flip-phone and put it in his jeans pocket. He left a note for Simone that he was going to go out for awhile but he'd be back for dinner. And with that he headed for the door.

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Isaac opened up the door to the coffee shop he had agreed to meet Claire at. When he got inside he saw Claire sitting, wearing a long black-sleeved shirt and dark jeans, and drinking coffee. It was the exact picture he had just painted of her.

He walked over to her and took a seat across the table for two she was sitting at.

"Hi." He said.

"Hey." Claire said smiling as she took a sip of her coffee quickly and then carefully set it down on the table.

"Thanks for meeting me on such short notice." Isaac said folding his hands together and placing them on the table.

"Oh, it's no problem." Claire said.

"So um, do they have any leads on Sylar or anything?" Isaac asked Claire.

Claire shook her head "Unfortunately no. But the good news is that somehow they've concluded that neither of us are responsible for Jesse's death. I guess it's handy to have Parkman working there, since he trusts us." Claire said.

"Yeah." Isaac said, not able to keep his eyes of Claire.

Claire didn't know what to say next, this whole thing was kind of awkward "It's weird Matt's not keeping you more informed." She said finally.

"I know, I guess he figures I'd just find out from you or Peter." Isaac said.

"Yeah, if I hear anything more I'll definitely tell you about it." Claire offered.

"Sure, thanks." Isaac said smiling at her.

"Are you going to get any coffee or anything?" Claire asked him.

"Um, no I think I'm good. I guess we didn't really need to meet I could've just asked you on the phone, but that just felt rude for some reason." Isaac said "Sorry." He added at the end.

"Please, it's fine Isaac. You saved my life I think I can come meet you for coffee sometimes." Claire said brushing some of her hair behind her ears.

"I should probably get back now." Isaac said starting to stand up. Claire did the same once she saw him stand up.

"Call me anytime you want to know about the investigation… or whatever." Claire said giving Isaac a short hug.

"Sorry for taking up part of your day again Claire." Isaac said getting his jacket on.

"No problem." Claire said.

"Tell Peter I said hello." Isaac said as he waved goodbye to Claire and headed for the door.

Claire bit her lip in confusion as she watched him go. That was…odd.

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Claire knocked on the door to Peter's apartment. She was meeting him there so they

could go over to Niki and Dl's apartment together. Peter opened the door and let Claire inside.

"Well hello." Peter said taking Claire's hands and pulling her closer to him.

"Hi" Claire said smiling up at him, their faces just inches apart. "Sorry I'm late."

"No problem." Peter said "as long as I get a kiss." He joked.

"Sure thing." Claire said lightly placing her hands on Peter's cheeks and pulling his face to hers planting a big kiss on his lips. Claire pulled away leaving Peter breathless.

"Nice." Peter said trying to impersonate Borat.

Claire laughed "So do you want to know why I was late?" She asked him.

"Ok." Peter said.

"Don't get mad, but I met with Isaac." Claire said holding up her hands in an apolegetic gesture.

Peter took a step back from Claire "Why?" he asked.

"Isaac called me and just wanted to know about what's going on with the investigation and everything. He hasn't been updated." Claire said.

"Why couldn't you just tell him over the phone?" Peter asked Claire.

"I told you not to get mad Peter. Please it was totally not a big deal. I know you don't like the guy but he saved my life and he seems really nice to me." Claire said, standing her ground against Peter, but she felt kind of helpless for some reason.

"I'm not mad Claire." Peter said stepping back towards her and placing his hands on her waist.

"Ok good." Claire said.

"I do have a proposition for you though." Peter said.

"Go ahead." Claire said eyeing Peter suspisciouslly.

Peter took Claire's hands into his own "Now try to have an open mind about this." He started.

"hmm… Ok I'll try." Claire said smiling.

"I've been thinking about this whole thanksgiving situation and… what if I went to Texas with you?" Peter asked.

Claire immediately shook her head at Peter "No, sorry but absolutely not." Claire said laughing a little at how absurd it would be if she brought Peter home… she could just see her mother's face when she showed her the boy she found at college.

"I really think it would be the safest thing for you right now." Peter said.

"Ok no offense Peter, but Sylar's kind of really powerful. If he comes after me I don't think it will be that much better to have you there. And besides it's just two plane rides that I'll be by myself." Claire said.

Peter leaned closer to Claire searching her face for answers "Why don't you want me to go to Texas with you?" he asked bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Claire asked back, slipping her hands away from Peters. "I don't think it's necessary, and there's that whole my mom probably wouldn't like me dating a guy ten years older than me, thing." Claire said.

"Well I don't have to meet her. I can stay at a hotel or something." Peter said

"No Peter." Claire said starting to get a little angry.

"I don't think it's safe for you to travel alone Claire." Peter said trying to stay calm.

"Will you stop treating me like I'm two freaking years old please?" Claire asked him raising her voice.

"Claire…" Peter started but Claire cut him off.

"No Peter, I'm sick of it. I know I'm a lot younger than you but I'm still eighteen years old and I can actually take care of myself." Claire said turning away from Peter and walking over to the kitchen counter to lean against it.

"I understand that Claire, but I happen to be in love with you. I can't help it if I want you to live." Peter said also raising his voice which sent a sharp pain through Claire. Being yelled at by Peter was definitely not fun, and he had never really yelled at her before. It took her by surprise.

Claire let silence flood into the room for a few seconds.

"We should probably get going or we're going to be late." Claire said.

Peter tilted his head down and smiled to himself at the absurdity of this. Here he and Claire were having a fight and now they had to go sit down and have a nice dinner with Niki, Dl, and probably a million other people.

"Yeah, Ok." Peter said grabbing his jacket.

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Peter and Claire walked up to Niki and Dl's apartment door.

"We're totally late." Claire said under her breath.

"I'm sorry Claire, is that my fault?" Peter asked.

"No, of course not." Claire said overly nice "Nothing is ever Peter's fault."

"You know…" Peter started but stopped when Niki opened the door.

"Hi guys." Niki said smiling, totally unaware of the Peter and Claire scuffle that was occurring.

"Hi." Claire said putting on a happy face and giving Niki a hug.

"Hey Niki." Peter said giving her a short hug.

"Sorry we're late." Claire said walking inside as Niki shut the door.

"Oh it's not big deal. We were just sitting down to dinner if you want to come into the dining room." Niki said walking toward the kitchen.

"Aw, see Claire. It's no big deal." Peter said.

Claire gave Peter a look before following Niki. The two got into the dining room to be greeted by Nathan, Hiro, Ando, Matt, Micah, and Dl.

Everyone was seated, Claire and Peter sat down next to each other because there were only two seats left. As everyone was passing food around Niki spoke.

"Well now that we're all here, I wanted to suggest something to everyone." Niki said.

"What is it?" Claire asked intrigued.

"Micah, Dl and I were thinking that maybe everyone could come over here for a nice thanksgiving dinner." Niki said.

Claire looked down at her plate and almost started laughing, because this was exactly what her and Peter were fighting about.

There was a succession of "that'd be great" and "sure's" around the table and then everyone looked to Claire and Peter because neither had said anything yet.

"Um, I would love to but I was actually planning on going back to Odessa for a few days for Thanksgiving, despite Peter's thoughts." Claire said.

"Oh well that sounds nice, why don't you want her to spend time with her family Peter?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah Peter, why don't you tell everyone?" Claire asked, happy that everyone was on her side.

Peter shook his head at Claire "It's not at all that I don't want Claire to spend time with her family. What I meant is that I don't think it is a good time for her to be traveling by herself with Sylar still out there and everything." Peter said.

"Actually Claire, I think Peter has a good point there." Matt said.

"I agree." Chimed in Dl.

Claire sighed and Peter looked over at her smiling in an 'I win' way.

Peters phone started to ring.

"Hey, Peter, why don't you try turning your phone off while we're eating dinner?" Claire asked rhetorically.

Peter looked at the caller ID. "It's my work, I should probably take this." Peter said getting up and walking into the living room.

"I may be way off track here" Niki said sarcastically "But are you and Peter fighting?" Niki asked Claire.

Claire looked around at the whole table, which had every pair of eyes staring at her waiting for her answer "I guess." She said "he's just being stupid." She added.

"Well I have to agree, he has a point about this whole traveling alone thing." Niki said.

Hearing this from Niki made Claire think twice about her actions, maybe Peter was right. But it totally sucked having to give up and let him win.

"Yeah, maybe." Claire shrugged as Peter walked back in.

"Everything ok?" Nathan asked Peter.

"Yeah, they just need me a couple hours early tomorrow." Peter said taking his seat next to Claire. "Sorry for answering that." Peter said directly to Claire.

"Whatever." Claire said raising her eyebrows as she took a bite of her food.

"It's funny when you guys fight." Micah said.

"Micah." Niki scolded him, even though she kind of had to agree.

Peter and Claire exchanged glances and almost smiled at each other but then remembered that they were "fighting." Both were stubborn and neither wanted to let the other win the stupid fight.

"Sorry." Micah said.

"Oh it's ok Micah." Claire said, inside agreeing that their fighting was kind of funny.

"Yeah." Peter agreed.

Dinner began to wind down and everyone slowly started leaving, saying that had to get up early for work the next day. Peter and Claire had been shooting each other evil looks throughout the night, and making sarcastic remarks at each other.

"Well I hope you two get over you're little… whatever this is." Niki said referring to their fight. They were standing at the door getting ready to leave.

"Yeah, I'll call you for when we can go shopping." Claire said hugging her good bye and following Peter out the door.

The two drove back to Peter's apartment in silence.

"I just have to get my car keys." Claire said as Peter unlocked the door to his apartment.

"Ok." Peter said taking his jacket off and sitting down on his couch.

"You know you didn't have to be such an ass tonight." Claire said idely.

Peter stood up from the couch "Claire, your being ridiculous." Peter said.

"Really? I kind of thought that was what you were being." Claire said.

"I just want to keep you safe." Peter said stepping closer to Claire.

"Yeah and treat me like your little sister." Claire yelled getting right up in Peter's face so that she was just inches away from his face.

Both of them were breathing heavily and they had their eyes locked on each other. Before Peter could think about what he was doing he grabbed Claire's body and forced it against his kissing her forcefully on the lips, and it wasn't long before Claire gave into the kiss.

They pulled away breathless.

"I definitely wouldn't do that to my little sister." Peter said.

"Yeah I should hope so." Claire said smiling and Peter kissed her again this time backing her up against the wall.

"God we suck at fighting." Claire said as she kissed Peter's neck.

Peter titled her face up and kissed her on the lips again, then pulled away "I know." He said.

"We're pretty good at this though." Claire said laughing.

"I know." He said again.

"I'm sorry." Claire said as Peter walked her towards his bedroom.

"We don't have to talk about it now." Peter said.

"I was being a bitch earlier." Claire said.

"No you weren't" Peter moaned kissing Claire's neck.

"Well, sorry again." Claire said.

"It's ok." Peter said before getting Claire into his bedroom and closing the door behind the two of them.

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The next morning Peter quietly got out of bed. In the heat of the night before he had forgotten that he had to be at work at eight in the morning, so he decided he'd leave Claire a note and let her sleep. Peter had on jeans and opened his closet door to get a shirt.

Claire's eyes fluttered open and expected to see Peter, but he wasn't lying next to her.

"Peter?" She called out groggily, propping herself up on her elbow.

Peter popped his head out of the closet "Oh, Claire I didn't mean to wake you up." Peter said.

"Where are you going" She asked him running her hands through her frizzled hair.

"I have to get to work. I'm sorry." Peter said closing the closet door.

"Oh, I'll get up then." Claire said.

"No, Claire you can sleep longer if you want, or just hang here." Peter said heading for the door. Claire grabbed his hand as he reached the door.

"Come here." She said smiling sweetely yet sedectively.

Peter gave in and let Claire pull him into bed.

"I don't want you to go." She whined playing with the bottom hem of Peter's shirt.

"Believe me I don't want to go to work either." Peter said.

"So skip it." Claire said running her hands under Peter's shirt and onto his warm skin.

"Claire." Peter protested, starting to feel that if Claire kept touching him he definitely wouldn't be able to go to work.

"Ok, fine. I know you can't skip." Claire said pouting unhappily.

"I should go." Peter said kissing Claire on the forehead.

"Wait." Claire continued whining. "I've been thinking about this whole thanksgiving thing. If you really want to come with me than I'll call my mom today and ask her if she can make an extra place for you at the table." Claire said.

"I don't have to eat with your family." Peter said.

"Peter… yeah if you come you will eat with us." Claire said.

"Ok." Peter said smiling.

"My mom might not like you though… just a warning." Claire said.

"Well we already know your dad does. He was very thankful to me for saving your life at homecoming." Peter said.

"Don't get too cocky now." Claire joked.

"I'll try." He joked back "I really need to go."

"Come back soon." Claire said watching Peter get out of bed and leave the room.

Claire smiled and pulled the covers around herself and letting herself fall back asleep in Peter's bed.

_Sorry I didn't do much Sylar in the one because he was so dramatic at the end of the last chapter, but he's coming soon… haha I should update in the next four or five days, im excited about the next chapter cause its thanksgiving and Claire might get a little tipsy hahaa. Please review if you can, thanks BYEEE!_


	11. Bringing Back Those Memories

Chapter 11-Bringing Back Those Memories

_Hey guys, sorry again for the kind of long time between updates, but this is a really long chapter haha. Thanks for the reviews last chapter!! They were so nice and amazinggggg haha. Anyways just some info… the stuff with Ted and the Bennets never happened so the house is still there, and Claire's mom and brother both know Claire has powers… with that said read and enjoy…_

"Peter are you sure you don't want to spend thanksgiving with your brother?" Claire asked him.

Peter and Claire were standing in line at the airport waiting to get onto the plane.

"Claire, for the last time, Nathan has a family he can spend Thanksgiving with. Now please stop freaking out and let's just trying to make this weekend fun." Peter said placing his hands on her shoulders and shaking them to ease some tension out.

Claire sighed, "Ok, I'm sorry. I'm just a little stressed, because… I don't know. It's just going to be really awkward." Claire said.

"Well we've already established that your dad likes me." Peter said.

"Yeah, but that was when we barely knew each other… now we're dating." Claire said.

"I'll do my best to charm everyone." Peter said trying to make Claire laugh.

"Oh my god, they're totally going to make you sleep in the basement. This is exactly like that Ben Stiller movie Meet The Parents." Claire said.

Peter laughed at Claire's ridiculousness "It will be fine Claire. Now the line's moving so let's get on the plane." Peter said pushing Claire forward.

"Do you like cranberry sauce?" Claire asked Peter randomly.

"What?" Peter asked back.

"It's like a big family tradition to always have homemade cranberry sauce and everyone has to eat it and they _have_ to enjoy it. So do you like cranberry sauce?" She asked again, an expression of panic spreading across her face.

"I'll eat it. Claire don't worry. Thanksgiving isn't until tomorrow. Just try and relax." Peter said soothingly.

"Alright." Claire said slipping an arm around Peter and he did the same to her as they handed their tickets over and walked towards the plane.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Claire and Peter walked up to Claire's house.

"Nice place." Peter said grabbing his and Claire's bags out of the taxi.

"Yeah I guess." Claire said sighing and looking up at her two-story house. She started to walk on the grass up to the front door.

"Oh it's open." Claire said when she tried the knob and it opened.

Claire peaked her head inside. The walls had been repainted to a bright yellow, but other than that everything was much or less the same.

"Come on." Claire said taking Peter's hand and pulling him inside.

"Wow, bright." Peter said taking in the yellow walls.

"Yeah, my mom's like that." Claire said looking around for any signs of life.

"Mom? Lyle? Dad?" Claire called out waiting to see if someone would pop out.

"Claire?" A shrill but happy voice called out. A couple seconds later Claire's mom, Sandra Bennet walked out into the living room wearing a pale pink skirt with a beige cardigan.

"Claire!" Sandra said this time with much more enthusiasm. She quickly walked over to Claire and took her, what felt like long lost daughter, into her arms.

"Hi mom." Claire said smiling as she hugged her mom back.

"Oh I've missed you." Claire's mom said hugging Claire as tightly as possible for a couple more seconds before releasing her daughter.

"Lyle, get your butt down here and see your sister." Sandra said, smiling at Claire and Peter.

Some rustling around was heard upstairs and the next second Lyle appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Not you." Lyle said sarcastically running down the stairs.

"Oh shut up and give me a hug." Claire said rolling her eyes at the ever-growing sassiness of her little brother.

"Fine." Lyle said not able to hide a small smile as he gave his sister a hug.

"And this must be your friend Peter." Sandra said shooting a regal smile at Peter.

"Uh, yeah, well boyfriend." He corrected her.

Claire's mom's smile turned to a frown and Claire bit her lip.

"Claire didn't mention that you were her boyfriend on the phone." Sandra said remaining composed.

Peter looked over at Claire "Oh really? Well I am." Peter said.

Claire mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to Peter.

"Um, Mom is dad here?" Claire asked trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"He's going to be stuck at work for a couple of hours." Sandra said, keeping her eyes glued to Peter, trying to examine him.

"Oh, well I guess I should bring my stuff up to my room." Claire shrugged.

"Yes, and we can get Peter settled into the basement. Don't worry it's basically our guest bedroom." Sandra said to Peter.

Visions of Meet The Parents flashed through Claire's head.

"Mom, does Peter really have to sleep in the basement?" Claire asked.

"Where would you suggest he sleep Claire? Certainly not in your bedroom." Sandra said still smiling, but there was obviously anger in her undertone.

"Well I wasn't going to suggest that exactly… you know what, never mind." Claire said.

"The basements fine." Peter said, not wanting to cause any more trouble.

"I have some things cooking in the kitchen. I'd love to talk to you for a minute Claire." Sandra said, making it clear that she wanted to talk to Claire ALONE.

Claire smiled in fear "of course." She said through clenched teeth.

Sandra smiled and nodded her head walking off to the kitchen.

"I'll be in my room." Lyle said giving a submissive head nod to Claire and Peter before racing up the stairs.

Claire let out a large sigh and turned to Peter.

Peter could tell by the look on her face that she was about to go into a big speech, so Peter placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her.

"It's ok, just go talk to your mom." Peter said.

"Ok, the basement's down that hall and to the left." Claire said pointing to the hallway.

"I'll be down there." Peter said leaning into kiss Claire, but Sandra who had been watching the two of them suddenly called Claire's name to come into the kitchen.

Peter closed his eyes and backed away from Claire "good luck." He said rubbing her arms a little before walking to the basement.

Claire braced herself and headed into the kitchen.

"What's up mom?" Claire asked casually, even though she knew exactly what her mom wanted to talk about.

"Well I just think it would've been nice if you had told me you were dating a boy that is practically fifteen years older than you." Sandra said.

"Actually he's just eleven years older than me." Claire said.

"Claire don't start with me." Sandra said.

"Sorry." Claire said trying to remain calm.

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable having you two stay in the same house." Sandra said.

Claire almost laughed considering that she had been sleeping in Peter's apartment practically every night recently.

"We won't do anything mother." Claire said watching her mother take some sort of pie out of the oven. Claire's mother didn't say anything for a while.

"Why are you so upset about this?" Claire asked finally.

"Oh, I don't know Claire. I always just sort of thought you'd date boys your own age. You know, someone like… Zach." Sandra said poking a few holes in the pie.

Claire did a double take to her mom "Zach? Mom that's so random. I haven't talked to him since graduation." Claire said burrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Really?" Sandra asked surprised.

"Yeah. Besides things with Zach and I are just weird. I mean we're just friends." Claire said.

"Oh, well… Claire I invited Zach to Thanksgiving dinner." Sandra confessed.

Claire's mouth dropped wide open "What? Why would you do that?" she asked once she was able to regain use of her words.

"He's kept in touch with us and his family isn't in town for Thanksgiving so I invited him over here. I sort of thought you two could reconnect." Sandra said. She had been so proud of her matchmaking plans, but Claire's impromptu boyfriend kind of screwed everything up.

"This is awful." Claire said sitting down by the counter and placing her head in her hands.

"I hate to say it, but maybe if you told me you were bringing a boyfriend I wouldn't have invited Zach." Sandra said walking over to Claire.

"This is going to be the most awkward dinner ever." Claire said shaking her head in denial. She got out of her chair and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sandra asked.

"To see Peter." Claire said.

"You might want to prepare him, I'm sure your father is going to want to have a long talk with him when he gets home." Sandra said leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Peter saved my life mom. You guys should be grateful to him." Claire said.

"Well that was when he wasn't your boyfriend. It's a very different situation now." Sandra said.

Claire shook her head and rolled her eyes "whatever, this weekend couldn't really get much worse anyway." Claire said and with that she turned and walked down the hallway towards the basement. She walked down the stairs and saw that the basement had been redone. It was actually pretty nice, with a queen sized bed and a desk and a small TV. It was however freezing cold.

Peter was lying on the bed reading a book.

"Hey." Claire said quietly standing on the last stair step.

Peter looked up from his book and smiled "hey, come here." He said.

Claire tilted her head and smiled making her way over to the bed. She climbed on using Peter's knee to help her up.

"I'm really sorry." Claire said very matter of factly.

"Please, don't be." Peter said copying her tone of voice. He folded over the page that he was on in his book and placed it by his side.

"No, I should've told her we were dating. I'm stupid." Claire said.

"Claire" Peter started as he pulled Claire over so that she was lying next to him. Claire cuddled into Peter's side as he wrapped his arms around her. "I know you're really stressed about this weekend. I mean obviously I wish you felt more comfortable telling people that we're dating…but I really do understand." Peter said.

"Peter, I don't even know why I didn't tell her." Claire started loudly, and Peter could feel her tense up in her arms.

"Shh." Peter said kissing her lips softly and gently laughing at her. She happened to be really hot when she was frustrated.

Oh god, this boy was way too sweet, Claire thought "I just panicked when I was talking to her I guess." Claire said.

"Is she mad?" Peter asked.

Claire shrugged her shoulders "I mean… not mad, just concerned. But she totally complicated this weekend even more." Claire said.

"Why?" Peter asked Claire while stroking her hair.

"This guy Zach was my best friend in high school, but at the end of senior year things got a little weird between us and I basically haven't talked to him since graduation. Anyway point is my mom invited him to Thanksgiving dinner." Claire said.

Peter stopped stroking Claire's hair "Did you guys date or something?" he asked.

"No, god no. We were just really good friends. I think he wanted to be a lot more, and I just didn't. That's why things got so weird." Claire said.

"So that means dinners going to be a little more awkward tomorrow then." Peter said.

"Try a lot. My mom actually thought that maybe Zach and I would reconnect; god knows what she meant by that. But it's not going to happen." Claire said.

"You should talk to him though Claire." Peter said.

"Why are you so perfect?" Claire asked Peter.

"Oh, well there are just so many reasons." Peter said leaning back stealthily.

Claire laughed and hit him playfully on the stomach "I forgot that you take compliments, way too well." She said as Peter flashed a smile at her.

"Ok, well anyways I'm still really sorry. I do want people to know that you're my boyfriend. And…" Claire said leaning her face towards Peter's so that her lips brushed against Peter's ear lobe when she spoke "I promise I'll make it up to you." She whispered.

Peter smiled to himself "I can live with that." Peter joked.

Claire laughed, "Yeah, I'll bet." She said.

Peter leaned his head towards Claire and began to trail kisses down her neck.

"I love you." He said in between kisses.

Claire pulled his face up so that he was forced to look at her "I love you too." She said.

Peter kissed Claire on the lips and Claire deepened the kiss. Peter ran his hand down Claire's thigh and began to maneuver himself on top of her but she pulled away.

"Um, sorry, but I should probably get back upstairs or else my mom will kill me." Claire said.

Peter moved off of Claire and she ran her hands through her messy hair.

"Is it safe for me to come with you?" Peter asked.

"Of course, I'm not going to keep you caged down here." Claire said jumping off of the bed.

"I must admit I am a little scared of your mother." Peter said sitting on the edge of the bed and placing his hands firmly on Claire's hips.

"Well you haven' met Mr. Muggles yet. If you like the dog I'm sure you'll earn some points with her. I swear she loves that dog more than me." Claire said.

"Oh wow, that's intense." Peter said.

"I know, come on." Claire said holding out her hand for Peter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Thanksgiving Day… and all hell had broken loose in the Bennet household.

Ok so that wasn't exactly true, but that was how Claire felt.

It was 10:00 AM and everyone was milling around the kitchen making this or that.

Dinner the night before had been somewhat of a disaster; needless to say Noah Bennet made it home from work completely stressed and it didn't help to find out that his Claire Bear was dating Peter Petrelli. Now the whole house was filled with tension and there were only two hours left before Zach was supposed to arrive, and this was what Claire was dreading the most.

"Claire will you please get started on the apple pie?" Sandra asked Claire. Claire was sitting with Peter and Lyle at the kitchen table playing cards.

"I already made it mom, I'm just waiting to put it in the oven." Claire said annoyed.

"Oh, well Lyle could you please help me with making the stuffing?" Sandra asked.

"Mom, you cannot trust Lyle to make the stuffing." Claire said alarmed at her mother.

"Well I certainly can't do it. I have to concentrate on my cranberry sauce." Sandra said.

Claire raised her eyebrows at Peter in an, I told you so, way.

"You know Mrs. Bennet I happen to be a very good stuffing maker." Peter said.

Sandra raised her eyes from her cranberry sauce to look at Peter "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do any work." She said.

"Come on mom, let Peter help." Claire said giving her mom and incredulous look.

"Well if you insist." She said smiling fakely. She obviously didn't really want anything to have to do with Peter.

Peter nodded his head and got out of his chair to go help make food.

Claire's dad walked into the kitchen and grabbed his briefcase.

"Hi dad, happy thanksgiving." Claire said smiling.

"Thanks Claire bear. Look I have to go take care of a couple of things at work but I'll be back in no time." Noah said.

"Honey, you're not seriously going to work today are you?" Sandra asked him.

"I'll just be a couple of hours I promise." Noah said.

"We're planning on eating at around 1:00." Sandra said.

"I will definitely be back by then." He said and then turned to leave, not wanting to get into a fight with his wife.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour later, things were still pretty much the same. Claire and Peter were sitting in the kitchen playing cards again. Claire had taken a break to help Peter with the stuffing and finish making her apple pie. Lyle was off playing video games, and was probably going to be doing that for the remainder of the day with the exception of eating a quick lunch with the family.

Claire's mom was concentrating on the vegetable dishes for the late lunch when the doorbell rang.

"Could you get that Claire?" Sandra asked.

"Sure." Claire said pulling herself out of her chair and heading to the door.

When she opened the door none other than Zach stood there.

Claire felt faint for a moment but she pulled herself together.

Claire and Zach both said each other's names at the exact same moment and then both laughed nervously.

"It's really good to see you." Claire said leaning over and hugging Zach awkwardly.

"Yeah, you too. You look amazing." Zach said glancing up and down Claire's body.

Claire nodded her head in silence "Um, come in." she said walking towards the kitchen "Everyone's just in the kitchen."

"Alright, sorry I'm early but someone had to borrow my car so they just dropped me off over here." Zach said following Claire down towards the kitchen.

"Is that Zach's voice I hear?" Sandra asked happily.

"Uh, yes it is." He said waving at Mrs. Bennet.

"Oh, Zach, it's so good to see you sweetie." Sandra said, "I would come over there and hug you but my hands are all messy."

"That's alright." Zach said smiling.

"Um, Zach this is my boyfriend Peter." Claire said, and Peter immediately stood up from his chair and held out his hand. Zach shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you." Peter said.

"Yeah, you too." Zach said, already not too fond of Peter… probably just because he was dating Claire.

"Oh goodness, is it already 12:00?" Sandra asked.

"No, I had to come over early, there were car complications." Zach said.

"Oh no problem. Your welcome to have something to drink from the fridge and just make yourself comfortable." Sandra said.

Claire noticed the distinct difference in her mother's attitude towards Zach and her mother's attitude towards Peter. This was totally not fun.

"Thanks." Zach said slipping his hands into his pockets and leaning back a little in his stance.

Great, what were Claire, Zach, and Peter supposed to do for another couple of hours before it was time to eat?

"I'll be right back, I have to go get something." Claire said, turning to leave.

"Do you want me to come?" Peter asked, not really wanting to be left alone with Zach and Claire's mom.

Claire hesitated "um, ok I guess." She said. Peter followed Claire as she walked down the stairs to the basement.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked her.

"I need something." Claire said walking over to the pantry in the basement. Claire reached her hand up to the ledge over the door and grabbed a small key.

"Claire?" Peter asked confused as to what she was doing.

"This is my dad's secret, well I guess not so secret, stash." Claire said opening the door into a small pantry with a couple of shelves that had random bottles of alcohol on them.

Claire reached for a bottle of vodka but Peter grabbed it out of her hand.

"Claire are you crazy?" Peter asked her.

"Excuse me Peter? Look I'm sorry but I need something to take the edge off or else I don't think I'll make it through the day." Claire said.

"Claire you can not get drunk right now." Peter said walking away with the bottle of vodka.

"Peter." Claire whined running after him and grabbing his hand to stop him from walking.

"I'm not going to get drunk, I just want a little." Claire said.

"You're just going to drink it straight?" He asked her.

"Believe me, I need it." Claire nodded her head.

"God I'm going to regret this." Peter said as he handed the bottle over to Claire.

Claire took it happily and opened it taking a big sip of it and coughing as she finished swallowing.

Peter laughed a little "Ok that's good." Peter said.

"No, wait." Claire said taking one more big sip.

"Claire… seriously that's enough." Peter said.

"Alright, ok. I'm good now." Claire said smiling.

"Good." Peter said taking the bottle and placing it back in the pantry and locking the door.

"You sure you don't want any?" Claire asked, already feeling happier.

"I think I'm ok. Getting wasted probably wouldn't impress your parents too much." Peter said.

"True. Alright let's get back up there." Claire said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple more awkward hours, and it was finally time to eat. Claire had snuck down to the basement two more times without telling Peter, to get some more vodka, and she was starting to get kind of trashed.

Everyone was seated around the table with food on their plates.

"Let me just say thanks to everyone for being here so that we can have this lovely dinner together." Mrs. Bennet said smiling around the table.

"Yes! Peter, and Zach… God thank you both so much for joining my awesome family for thanksgiving." Claire said raising her glass and speaking at least twice as loud as everyone else.

"Ok, Claire." Peter said under his breath.

"Let's eat." Claire said smiling and starting to scarf down her food.

"So Zach, tell us how college has been for you." Noah said taking considerably smaller bites of his food than Claire was.

"Good. It's been great actually. A lot better than high school." Zach said.

Claire laughed out loud "Yeah high school was retarded." Claire said.

"Claire! What has gotten into you?" Her mother asked her.

"Sorry mom. Am I speaking too loud for everyone?" Claire asked almost yelling.

"Claire." Noah said frowning at his daughter.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." Claire said getting up from the table and faltering a little as she stood.

"Claire have you been drinking?" Noah asked her.

Peter ran his hands through his hair and looked down at his food. This could in no way be good.

Claire started laughing uncontrollably "Have I been drinking?" She repeated the question to herself "Hm, let's see…considering the fact that I'm basically trashed right now, I would say yes, I have been drinking." Claire answered each word more slurred than the previous.

Claire mother dropped her face into her hands and Claire's father placed his fork on the table calmly. Lyle looked excited by all of this.

"Sit down." Noah said.

"Um, no." Claire said.

"Claire this absolutely unacceptable." Noah said starting to get angry. "Go to your room."

"I'm eighteen years old. Don't tell me to go to my room. Do you want to know why I'm so drunk daddy?" Claire asked starting to pace around the table.

"Claire, you're making a scene." Sandra said.

"I don't care. This whole day has been a train-wreck. Mom and dad I know you both hate the fact that I'm dating Peter, but get over it." Claire yelled, "I love him. I am in freaking love with Peter freaking Petrelli!"

Peter cleared his throat.

Sandra shot a devil's look over at Peter "You can't possibly be in love with this boy… excuse me this _man_ yet." Sandra said.

"Well I am, and he loves me back so could everybody just get over themselves?" Claire asked plopping back down into her chair.

"This is awesome." Lyle said.

"Please help your mother clean up." Noah said looking down at his barely touched food.

"But I'm not done eating." Lyle said.

"Well this meal is over." Noah said angrily.

Claire turned to Peter her mouth wide open "Oh shit, he's pissed." She whispered giggling.

Peter shook his head in denial. This was basically all his fault. He knew he should've never let Claire have that drink.

"Come on Lyle." Sandra said heading into the kitchen and Lyle followed after her.

"Can I talk to you alone Peter?" Noah asked him.

"Um yes sir." Peter said.

"Please dad, Peter's been through enough." Claire said.

"You just sit tight Claire, because I'll be having a talk with you soon." Noah said getting up from the table.

Peter placed his hand on Claire's shoulder momentarily before following her dad.

A drunken Claire was left sitting alone at the table with Zach. She looked over at him and quickly got up heading out the door that led to the backyard.

Claire leaned against the railing that was on the edge of the deck and soon she heard the door open and close. Zach came and leaned on the railing next to her.

"You ok?" He asked her.

"I'm great." Claire said loudly.

"Claire, lower the volume." Zach said smiling at her.

"Sorry." She whispered dramatically.

The two stood in silence "Why aren't we friends anymore?" Claire asked Zach innocently.

"Well, I think it might have something to do with when I told you I loved you at prom and you basically shot me down." Zach said.

Claire's eyes popped open in shock, she must've been blocking that experience out of her life "Oh yeah, sorry about that." Claire said.

"It's ok Claire." Zach said.

"I love you back." Claire said smiling happily.

"No you don't Claire, you're just drunk." Zach said "but thanks anyway."

"Well I like you." Claire said.

Zach chuckled to himself "I like you too Claire." Zach said.

"I don't feel too good." Claire said placing her hand on her stomach.

"You might've had too much to drink." Zach said in a joking way because she had definitely had too much to drink.

"I want to be best friends with you again." Claire said looking over at him.

"Claire…" Zach started in protest, but then he realized Claire wouldn't really remember any of this the next day "ok, whatever." He said.

"Good. I'm gonna go inside now." Claire said.

"I'll be there in a second." Zach said.

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Claire walked back into her house and went to the living room. At this point she was definitely starting to crash. She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

A couple minutes later Zach came back inside and sat down next to Claire.

"What are you watching?" He asked her.

"Our old favorite movie" Claire said smiling in a daze.

"Ah, Cast Away… Yes I do love that Wilson." Zach said.

Claire laughed and continued to watch the movie.

After a few minutes Zach turned to Claire.

"Do you really love Peter?" he asked her.

Claire looked up at Zach's eyes "Yeah, I do." She said.

Zach nodded his head in response "Alright."

"I'm sorry Zach." Claire said.

"It's ok Claire." He said back.

Claire smiled faintly and then her eyes slowly started closing.

"I'm sorry." She said again as she drifted off to sleep.

Zach didn't know what to do so he got off of the couch and Claire fell to a lying position.

Peter stepped out of Noah Bennet's work office and looked perplexed.

"Um I think Claire's dad wants to talk to her." Peter said to Zach.

"She's kind of passed out right now, so I'm not sure that's going to work out." Zach said.

"Oh… well I guess I'll bring her to her room then." Peter said nodding his head slightly at Zach as he passed by him into the living room where Claire was lying passed out on the couch; her golden hair sprawled across her face. Peter walked over to her and moved some of the hair out of her face.

From the opposite hallway Claire's mom watched this whole scene play out.

Peter slowly picked Claire and held her in his arms. He then continued to walk up the stairs to where he assumed Claire's bedroom was. In Sandra's mind something changed at that point. She could see real love coming from Peter to Claire, and she had to admit that was nice.

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Claire woke up the next morning, not sure how she was in her bed, not sure what she said the night before, and terrified of how much trouble she was in. Not to mention the massive headache and horrible stomach ache that plagued her. Noticing that she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday she slowly got out of bed and rumbled through her drawers to find an old pair of sweatpants. Luckily there was a pair of grey cheerleading pants that still fit her fairly well. She put on a white t-shirt and braced herself to look at her reflection in the mirror… which wasn't as bad as she had imagined. Despite the large circles under her eyes and the amazing way that her hair was frazzled at the moment Claire didn't look too hung-over. And considering how much she imagined she had had to drink the night before she was surprised she hadn't thrown up once.

Claire threw her hair into a bun and figured it was time to face the parents.

She crept out of her room and walked down the stairs, wondering if Peter was awake yet.

She didn't have any idea what time it was but she decided she'd try to sneak down to the basement to talk to Peter before she had to talk to her parents. As she reached the doorway that led to the basement stairs she felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around to see her mother.

"Hi." Was all Claire could think of to say.

"Well how nice of you to grace us with your presence at what time is it… oh 1:30 in the afternoon." Sandra said with that fake happy tone that mother's often use when they are in fact livid with their daughters.

"Sorry, I'm not feeling too well." Claire said, which was probably the understatement of the year. So many things were wrong in her life right now.

"I wonder why." Sandra said breaking eye contact with Claire and turning to head towards the kitchen.

Claire figured there was a silent "follow me" included so she followed her mother.

When they got in the kitchen Lyle was sitting at the table and when he saw Claire he immediately burst out laughing.

"You were so wasted last night." He said once he was able to stop laughing.

"Lyle please go to your room." Sandra said.

Lyle grunted as he got up from the table "Fine." He said dismissively laughing at Claire again as he passed by her.

"I figure we can be adults about the situation." Claire said softy.

"You were being anything _but_ an adult yesterday Claire." Sandra said.

"I'm sorry, I mean I made a mistake but there's not much else I can say." Claire said.

"Well there's not much I can do. But your behavior worries me." Sandra said.

"I don't drink very much in New York mom. Honestly." Claire said.

"It's not just that. You're in love with this boy that you barely know, and he's so much older than you." Sandra said, her tone changing from angry to somewhat caring.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I do really love him, and it surprised me too that I fell so fast for him, but I just did. He's amazing mom." Claire said.

"Well… your father is in his office and I think he wants a word with you." Sandra said.

Ugh, Claire wasn't sure how many more of these parental talks she could handle.

"Ok, Peter and I have to leave in a couple of hours to catch our flight I think." Claire said.

"Then you should go talk to your father now." Sandra said.

Claire nodded her head and wandered off to her dad's office. She knocked gently on the door, not sure she could handle any noise louder than that.

"Come in." Noah's voice said.

Claire took in a deep breath and opened the glass doors.

"Sit down Claire." He said.

Claire took a seat across his desk from him.

"I'm sorry dad." Claire started.

"Claire, that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about." Noah said holding up his hand in a gesture to get her to stop talking.

"Oh." Claire responded.

"We have a bigger problem on our hands." Noah said folding his hands in his lap.

Claire leaned forward in confusion "Is it about Sylar?" She asked.

Noah raised his eyebrows wondering how to correctly answer the question "Worse." He said.

Claire's eyes widened in fear "I don't understand what could be worse than Sylar."

"I've already talked to Peter about this… but I figured I should tell you to. Although last night you were a little out of it so there wasn't much I could do." Noah said.

Well this was nice and awkward, Claire thought.

"We have a new… enemy." Noah said choosing each word carefully.

"Is he working with Sylar, does he want our powers?" Claire asked.

"We don't know if he's working with Sylar, in fact we don't even know if it is a _he_." Noah said.

"So we basically don't know anything about this person." Claire said leaning back uncomfortably in her chair.

"We know that they are probably more dangerous than Sylar, and we need to be very careful of them. I don't think they have powers like you, I think they want people who do have powers… for some sort of experiment. Two people have already been abducted by him or her and we have yet to know if they are ok." Noah said.

Claire was silent for a moment "Dad I'm scared. If we can't even do anything about Sylar how are we supposed to defeat… this person?" Claire asked.

"I don't know. But Claire, I don't want you to worry too much. I'm doing everything I can to make sure they never find out that you have powers and that they never find you." Noah said.

There was a knock at the door. Peter entered into the room cautiously and Claire smiled immediately when she saw him.

"Sorry to interrupt but out taxi is going to be here in ten minutes to take us to the airport." Peter said to Claire.

"Wait… already?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, our flight's at four." Peter said.

"Ok, I'll be out in a second." Claire said. Peter nodded and left the room.

"He's a good guy, and I trust him to take care of you Claire." Noah said.

"Thanks." Claire said, finally some sort of gratitude to Peter coming from her parents.

"I want you to do whatever he says, he knows what's best when it comes to your safety." Noah said.

Claire nodded her head "Ok."

"Alright, let's go get your stuff Claire bear." Noah said getting up.

Claire followed him out of the office; amazed that he barely mentioned the incident from yesterday. Maybe her parents realized there wasn't much they could do. It's not like they could ground her or something like that.

Peter brought down Claire's bags from her room and Sandra came into the living room.

"Well I guess this is goodbye until Christmas." Sandra said actually smiling at her daughter.

"Yeah… I guess." Claire said leaning into her mother's embrace.

"I love you sweetie." She said.

"Love you too mom." Claire said.

Claire looked over at Lyle "Come here stupid." She said smiling as she gave Lyle as short hug.

"I guess I'll miss you." Lyle said quietly.

"Well I guess I'll miss you too." Claire said, just as she heard a steady sheet of rain start to fall outside.

"Claire bear, please be careful." Noah said as he took his daughter into a strong embrace.

"I will dad." Claire said.

"Peter, I know we've given you a hard time these past couple of days, but I know you love my daughter. Just take care of her." Sandra said smiling a real smile for the first time at Peter.

"I will." Peter said.

"I think your cab is here." Claire's dad said glancing out the window.

"Ok, well I love you family." Claire said placing her hand in Peter's and grabbing her bags in the other.

"Bye Claire." Everyone said as her and Peter stepped out the front door and ran to the taxicab trying not to get too wet from the rain.

Claire got inside and Peter slid in next to her.

The taxi pulled away from Claire's house and Claire's eyes watched it disappear as they drove away. Before she knew it she had tears flowing out of her eyes. Peter noticed and scooted closer to her draping an arm over her shoulders.

"Why are you crying?" he asked her.

Claire shrugged and leaned into Peter's chest "I don't know." She answered.

Peter didn't say anything else. He just wrapped his other arm around Claire and slowly stroked her hair as she fell asleep against his chest.

_Ok so ending was a little cheesy I realized, but I just felt like ending it like that haha. I will try to update in the next couple of days cause I'm going out of town for ten days so it will either be like two days or twelve till my next update. In any case please review because its so inspiring and I have nothing else to say haha so thanks and Bye!_


	12. Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight

Chapter 13- Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight

_Hi Guys… Sorry Sorry SORRY I suck at updating but I went out of town for like 14 days and I couldn't write at all. Thanks for the reviews and keeping with the story and my bad updating skills haha. This chapter gets kind of dark at the end just as a warning to you. Bad news is I'm won't be able to update for another week cause I'm going out of town but the day I get back I will post!! Read and enjoy…_

"How do I look?" Claire asked her roommate Jen. She was standing in their dorm room dressed in a deep red silky mini dress that fell about to her knees. Her golden hair was curled perfectly and was draped around her shoulders. With black pumps on, Claire totally nailed the look.

"Stunning as usual." Jen said rolling her eyes in a joking way. She often wondered why Claire felt the need to ask how she looked, because she _always_ looked perfect.

"Thanks." Claire said taking in a deep breath and then letting it out slowly. She walked over to her mirror and put on a last coat of lip-gloss.

"Are you nervous?" Jen asked Claire eyeing her suspiciously.

"What? No absolutely not." Claire scoffed at Jen… but then she hesitated.

"You can tell me." Jen said standing from her bed.

"Ok this is so lame… but tonight is like my first real date with Peter. I mean of course we've been out together all the time but tonight is like nice restaurant, nice clothes, big deal kind of date." Claire said praying Jen wouldn't break out in laughter at her.

"That's not lame Claire. I would kill to have a boyfriend that took me out on nice dates. All the boys I'm with don't want to date me they just want to have sex with me." Jen said, a sort of sad expression stretching across her face.

"I know there's a guy out there for you Jen." Claire said smiling.

"Way to be cheesy Claire." Jen said.

Claire laughed at Jen's comment. "I'm spending the night out, just so you know." Claire said.

"I assumed." Jen said. "You know that you're going to be freezing in that dress."

"Um… shit." Claire said, she hadn't considered the fact that it was practically Antarctica outside and she was wearing a mini dress.

"I have a long jacket you can borrow." Jen said searching through her closet till she found the jacket.

"Oh my god you so rock." Claire said grabbing the jacket and slipping it on just as there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Jen asked.

"Peter." Peter's voice was heard from the other side of the door.

Jen bounded over to the door and opened it "Welcome lover of Claire." Jen said pulling Peter inside the room.

Peter laughed and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Good to see you Jen." Peter said.

"Well despite how much I hate you, I guess I'll just have to deal." Jen said.

"Jen!" Claire said hitting her on the arm.

"Totally kidding here." Jen said looking offended at Claire. "No need for assault."

"Oh ha ha." Claire said sarcastically.

"You ready?" Peter asked, laughing under his breath at the interaction between Claire and Jen.

Claire nodded her head "Yes."

"You two have fun." Jen said pushing Claire and Peter out the door "And don't do anything I wouldn't do Claire." Jen said smiling seductively causing Claire to laugh.

"Sure thing Jen." Claire said winking and closing the door behind her.

Peter immediately grabbed Claire by the waist and pinned her against the hallway wall.

"Well hello." Claire said surprised, Peter's face just inches from hers.

"I've missed you." Peter said kissing her softly on the lips.

"I know… god it's been like almost two days since I last saw you." Claire said sarcastically.

Peter leaned his face towards Claire's so that their cheeks were touching and he whispered to her "You look really hot by the way."

Claire smiled into Peter's cheek and pushed his face over to her lips so that she could kiss him again.

"You ready to go?" Peter asked leaning back a little but taking one of Claire's hands into his.

"Can't wait."

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Peter and Claire were in the car, and Peter was driving Claire to the restaurant they were going to eat at, but he ended up pulling into the parking spot that was at his apartment.

"What are we doing here?" Claire asked pulling her jacket tighter around herself, because it was freezing in Peter's car.

"I know I told you we were going to that Italian place… but there's been a slight change in plans." Peter said smiling at Claire. The kind of smile that made Claire anxious because it meant that Peter knew everything and Claire didn't. Surprises weren't really her thing.

"Are we going to your apartment?" Claire asked him as Peter turned off the car.

"Yeah, come on." He said opening his door and walking outside.

Claire thought about how weird this was, to herself… and then she followed Peter to his apartment.

The two got to the door to Peter's apartment and stopped.

Peter turned to Claire "Close your eyes." He said.

"Peter, you're freaking me out." Claire said squinting her eyes at him, trying to figure out what he was pulling on her.

"Just close your eyes. You'll like this surprise. I promise." Peter said gently brushing her cheek with his thumb for a second.

Claire sighed "Ok."

Claire closed her eyes and Peter opened up the door to his apartment. The lights were off inside. He walked back out and stood behind Claire wrapping his arms around her waist and walking her into his apartment.

"Can I open my eyes?" She asked.

"One second." Peter said shutting the door behind him and turning on the lights.

"Ok you can now." He said quickly walking over to the table so he could see Claire's reaction.

Claire slowly opened her eyes and felt her mouth drop open in awe at what she saw.

Peter had put a tablecloth over his table and set up two places with candles dimly lit throughout the entire living room. There was a bouquet of roses in the middle of the table and a few more randomly strewn throughout the room. Also on the table was two bowls full of pasta and a bottle of wine, along with a plate of garlic bread.

After fully scanning the room Claire's eyes wandered towards Peter's.

She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck "This is so cute."

"I'm glad you like it." He said.

"I didn't figure you to be the really romantic type." Claire said

"I wanted to do something really special for you. After everything you've been through lately… you just deserve it. Don't worry I didn't cook the food, I picked it up earlier." Peter said.

Claire smiled up at him and pressed her lips against his momentarily before pulling away.

"I can't believe you did this. It's so nice." Claire said taking her jacket off.

"Well I love you… all of this was nothing." Peter said.

"I love you too." Claire said softly.

"Come on, let's eat before the food gets cold." Peter said motioning to the table.

The two sat down. "I'm trusting you to not get drunk on this wine." Peter said, remembering the recent Thanksgiving incident.

Claire laughed for a good few seconds "Trust me, I'm not planning on getting wasted like that again for a long time." Claire said.

Peter and Claire shared a nice meal together talking, laughing, and just enjoying being with each other. It was exactly what each of them needed after everything that had been going on recently.

When they were done Peter stood up and walked over to his stereo and turned on some soft music.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked Claire walking over to her and holding out his hand.

A shocked Claire answered with another question, "You dance?" She asked.

He shrugged cockily, "Only for you." He said smiling.

Claire returned the smile and placed her hand into his. She stood up and Peter walked them towards the light switch so that he could turn the lights off, leaving the room dark but dimly lit by the candles that were still glowing throughout it. Peter pulled Claire towards him and placed one hand on her waist and the other on her lower back. Claire wrapped her arms up around Peter's neck so that she could lean her head against his shoulder.

Peter breathed in Claire's perfume and smiled. Something about this girl was just so sexy.

The two swayed back and forth and Peter's hand that was on Claire's back gently ran up and down her back. He slipped his hand lower and lower until in was on her butt.

Claire pulled herself closer to Peter and gently nibbled on his ear lobe sending chills through his body. Peter slowly trailed kissed along Claire's neck and collarbone and Claire finally pulled his head up so that it was direct with hers and she kissed his lips. No longer dancing, but full on making out and groping each other Peter and Claire fell to the couch leaving Peter on top of Claire.

He ran his right hand under Claire's dress and up her thigh giving her chills. Claire kept a hold of Peter's head so that she could keep kissing him. It was if each needed each other like they needed air in that moment.

Claire let go of Peter's head and reached down to undo the belt buckle on his pants. Peter kissed Claire's lips and face while she did and ran his hands up and down her arms. Their lips met again in a fiery passion, tongues flailing everywhere making it seem impossible for either of them to breathe, not that they were intent on breaking apart for air.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Peter stopped kissing Claire and she immediately said, "Do not answer that!" urgently.

She grabbed his face and continued kissing him.

A few seconds later there was another knock on the door.

Claire moaned out of annoyance. She needed Peter right now…

"Peter? Are you there? It's Isaac and it's urgent." Isaac's voice said.

Peter and Claire broke apart.

"Maybe I should answer." Peter said.

Claire sighed as Peter slowly got off of her. Claire sat up on the couch and straightened her dress out. Peter re-did his belt buckle as he walked over to the door.

He opened the door and saw Isaac standing on the other side with what looked like a painting wrapped in brown paper in hand.

"Hi, sorry to bother you but I think you should see this." Isaac said.

"Come in." Peter said running his hands through his hair and closing the door after Isaac walked in. Peter switched the light on and blew out some of the candles.

Isaac stopped in his tracks when he saw Claire on the couch "Oh… Claire… I didn't know you'd be here." Isaac said… it all made sense now. The lights were off, there were candles and roses, and Claire's hair looked frazzled. He had just walked in on Peter and Claire about to have sex.

"Sorry again to barge in like this." Isaac said awkwardly setting his painting down on the coffee table.

Claire took in a breath, not wanting to sound rude to Isaac…it wasn't his fault but Claire was just really in the mood to be alone with Peter.

"It's fine." Claire shrugged.

"Did you paint something?" Peter asked, wanting to get to the point.

"Yeah." Isaac said not able to keep his eyes off of Claire. She looked gorgeous. He finally broke his gaze and reached for the painting. He took off the brown wrapping and revealed his latest painting.

Claire and Peter leaned forward to look at it.

The painting depicted Peter and Claire in a dark room sitting in chairs, their hands tied to the back of the chairs, and gags in their mouths. At the side of the picture there was a hand holding a gun, but no clue as to who the person holding it was.

Claire felt like she was going to throw up.

No one said anything and silence filled the room. Isaac uncomfortably shifted his weight and slipped his hands into his jean pockets.

Claire cleared her throat "Do you think this is Sylar?" Claire asked.

"Sylar wouldn't need a gun." Peter said shaking his head in confusion.

Claire bit her lip "Do you think… it's who my dad was talking about?" Claire asked.

Isaac perked up at this sentence "Who did your dad talk about?" he asked.

"There's a new threat to us. Apparently they're at least if not more dangerous than Sylar.

We don't much about him… or her… but we know they're bad." Peter said.

"Well I don't know if this painting helps anything, but I thought I should show it to you." Isaac said.

"No, it's good you showed us. I mean there's not much we can do… but it's good to know." Claire said.

"Yeah, if you don't mind I would like to bring it to my brother and Matt to see what they think we should do." Peter said.

"Sure." Isaac said.

There was an awkward silence. " Well I should get going." Isaac said.

"Ok." Peter said walking him to the door.

"Thanks Isaac." Claire said smiling lightly at him.

"No problem." Isaac said waving bye to Peter and Claire as he left the apartment. Peter closed the door, not knowing what to say to Claire.

"Are you… um… ok?" he asked from a distance.

Claire looked up at him, locking her eyes into his.

"Fine, I guess." Claire said, even though inside she was terrified. She didn't want to appear weak to Peter.

Peter started to walk towards her "We'll just have to be really careful and…" he started but Claire stood up and cut him off.

"Peter…" She said softly "There's nothing we can do. If it's going to happen, it will." Claire said.

"That's not true Claire." Peter said walking to her with urgency. How could she be thinking like this?

"Yeah it kind of is." She said running her hands through her hair.

"Claire." Peter said grabbing her hand a bit forcefully "I'm going to keep you safe."

Claire looked into Peter's eyes pleadingly "You're going to try. But obviously both of us are going to be in danger soon."

"I'm going to talk to Matt, and Nathan… We're going to figure out how to avoid this." Peter said.

Claire took a breath to object but she let it go. It was no use arguing with Peter. She stayed silent for a moment before nodding her head.

She shrugged "ok." She said barely audible.

Peter ran his hands up Claire's arms and rested them on her shoulders.

"I love you." He said.

Claire leaned into Peter's body and hugged him "I love you too."

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Claire spent the night at Peter's that night, but the whole romantic mood was kind of ruined after Isaac's little interruption.

The next day Claire went back to her dorm room and changed into a knee-length beige skirt, almost knee high boots, a long sleeved black cardigan with a pale blue camisole underneath. She was going back over to Peter's apartment to meet up with him and then the two of them were going to go visit Nathan and Matt to talk about what they should do for safety.

Claire pulled her hair into a high ponytail and headed back over to Peter's apartment. Immediately when she got there she knew something was off. Walking down the hallway she saw that the door to Peter's apartment was already open. Claire tried to think nothing of it and she just continued walking.

She opened the cracked door more and stepped inside to the dark apartment.

"Peter?" She called out, her breath starting to quicken. Claire grabbed her cell phone out of her purse, just in case she needed to call someone quickly.

There was no answer to her call.

"Peter!" She called out again, this time with more urgency.

Claire stopped walking and the room was silent. She scanned the room with her eyes.

Everything looked normal… everything looked the exact same as when she had left earlier that morning. Claire tried to be as quiet as she could and she crept down the hallway towards Peter's room. She was starting to have trouble breathing. Claire kept telling herself that this was just all some big joke that Peter was playing on her… it had to be.

She reached the door to Peter's room, which was closed. She grabbed the doorknob and tried to twist it open but the door was locked.

Claire took in a deep breath and suddenly the lights in the hallway went out and it was very dark.

"Peter??" She called out in a barely audible voice. Claire was about to turn around when she felt a presence around her. She could feel someone's breathing hit her back. Claire bit her lip and swallowed in fear.

She put her phone out in front of herself and started to dial 911.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said snatching the phone out of her hand and throwing it against the wall so that it broke into multiple little pieces.

Claire screamed and turned around to see a man with a black mask over his head standing behind her. She started to run but the man grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back to him.

"Let go." She screamed.

"I can't do that. So sorry." His creepy voice whispered. Claire listened to it and realized it didn't sound like Sylar…

The man pulled the sleeve of Claire's cardigan up and Claire felt a sharp pain enter her arm.

The next thing she knew the room was starting to go hazy and then she blacked out.

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Claire eyes slowly started to open. Everything around her was really fuzzy and blurry and she had a terrible headache. Slowly things started coming into focus. Claire was in a dimly lit room with all stonewalls. Finally she could see clearly… but what she saw made her feel sick to her stomach.

No more than ten feet away from her was an unconscious Peter with his hands tied to the back of the chair he was seated in, and his feet tied to the legs of the chair, and a gag in his mouth. Claire realized that she was in the exact same position as Peter and she stared panting, feeling as if she couldn't breathe.

She tried to make a noise to wake Peter up but he was still fast asleep.

"Well, well, well… look who's woken up." A man said stepping into Claire's line of vision. She recognized his voice. It was the same man who had taken her from Peter's apartment.

He was wearing black pants and a black t-shirt but no longer wearing the black mask as before. He looked to be about 37 or 38. His face was rugged and his hair was shaggy brown, and he had stubble on his face. His teeth were crooked and yellow and he looked very unclean.

Claire squealed when she saw him.

"Now Claire… no need to be scared of me." He said taking a gun out of his pocket and tossing it from one hand to the other.

Claire wondered if he knew that he wouldn't be able to kill her or Peter with that gun…

"I'm getting a little bored… maybe we should wake Peter up. What do you think?" He asked.

Claire just stared daggers at the man and didn't make a sound.

"Ok… be that way." He whispered and walked over to Peter's chair. After standing to the side of Peter for a few seconds, the man suddenly hit Peter hard across the face causing Peter's chair to wobble for a second.

Claire screamed from the other side of the room, but it was muffled from her gag.

Peter snapped awake feeling that same blurry feeling that Claire had woken up with.

When he saw Claire across from him and realized he was tied to the chair he started struggling to break free.

"Oh stop." The man said watching the red mark where he had hit Peter start to disappear.

"Right… I forgot you both have that little healing power."

The man stepped away from Peter and walked over to Claire "Guess it won't matter if I shoot Peter then will it?" he asked firing a shot across the room and Claire screamed again but then realized that the shot had hit the wall behind Peter.

"Just keeping things interesting." He said smiling sadistically.

He moved behind Claire and untied her gag and took it off dropping it on the ground beside her.

Claire let out a noisy breath and breathed heavier now that she could open her mouth.

"What do you want from us?" She asked him out of breath.

"Oh there are a lot of things I want." The man said eyeing Claire's body up and down.

Claire felt her stomach convulse a little.

"My name is Jared, I'm just your average guy." He said.

"Just let us go… please." Claire said almost to the point of tears.

"But I can't. See me and my friends who you'll meet later… we want to know what its like to have powers. We've got to run some tests, do some experiments… oh but don't worry we'll have a little _fun_ also." Jared said standing behind Claire and tracing his fingers across the back of Claire's neck.

Peter shifted in his chair from across the room.

"Don't touch me." Claire snapped.

Jared smiled and picked up Claire's gag. He walked in front of Claire and leaned down so he was eye level with her leaning his face in so it was just inches away from hers.

"You know you like it." He said… his breath reeked as it hit Claire's face. Jared then forcefully tied the gag around Claire's mouth again and then walked over to peter.

"Let's see if Peter has anything more interesting to say." Jared said untying Peter's gag.

Peter stayed silent once his gag was off.

"Ah, I see… the silent treatment." Jared said nodding his head "I bet I can make you talk though."

Jared walked to Claire and kneeled beside her. Claire's eyes followed his every move and he slowly ran his hand over Claire's black boots inching up higher and higher until his hand was in her knee… he then moved up under her skirt on her inner thigh and Claire made a small squealing noise and tried to move away from him.

"Hey get your hands off of her!" Peter yelled finally.

Jared kept his hand on Claire for a second longer before removing it and smiling over at Peter.

"I knew that would work." Jared said.

Peter shook his head… this guy was totally twisted.

"Your girlfriend's really hot. How many times have you fucked her?" He asked.

"Shut the hell up." Peter said, still struggling to break his hands free but he was just making himself tired.

"I bet she's good in bed too… I'd like to try that out." Jared said walking back over to Claire.

"Don't fucking touch her!" Peter yelled now even more urgent to break free of his restraints.

"Don't worry. See I'm a nice guy. I'll let you watch the action… you can even have a front row seat." Jared said.

"I sweat to god I will fucking kill you." Peter said.

Jared stopped in his tracks and started laughing, "I'd love to see you try that."

"You look hot in that sweater Claire… maybe we should take it off." Jared said

unbuttoning Claire's cardigan and then ripping it off of her.

"Fuck you man, don't touch her." Peter yelled.

Claire was breathing hard, feeling very vulnerable in only a thin camisole.

"You're starting to annoy me." Jared said turning to Peter.

"Well maybe if you'd stay the fuck away from my girlfriend I would shut up." Peter said.

"Don't be a smart ass." Jared said, leaving Claire and tying the gag around Peter's mouth again.

Claire heart sank. What the hell and her and Peter supposed to do? She couldn't see any conceivable way of getting out of this situation.

Jared was just about to advance on Claire when another guy opened the door to the room.

"We just got a new one sir. He's reacting pretty violently. I think you may want to come check him out." The guy said.

Jared turned his head; somewhat annoyed to this other guy "Which one is it?" He asked.

"Sylar." The guy said.

Claire shot a look over to Peter whose eyes were already on hers when she did.

"Alright then… I'll let you two have a moment alone. But don't worry I'll be back soon." Jared said untying Claire's gag and dropping it to the floor. He did the same to Peter's and then headed towards the door.

"Don't try anything while I'm gone. Believe me it won't be worth it." Jared said winking at Claire before slamming the door behind him as he walked out.

Claire and Peter sat in silence for a moment.

"Did he hurt you?" Peter asked Claire.

Claire looked up at him. "No." She replied quietly.

"We're going to get out of this." Peter said keeping his voice steady.

Claire looked back down, not able to keep her eyes on Peter for fear she would break down and cry.

"Claire please look at me." He said caringly.

Claire slowly lifted her head.

"We are going to make it out of here. I promise."

_Ahh… so creepy I know. Please review with your thoughts/whatever haha. I will update as soon as I possibly can because I don't want to leave you guys hanging. Don't worry I'm not leaving the story! Thanks Bye!_


	13. Much Farther To Go

Chapter 14- Much Farther To Go

_All I have to say is that I'm SOO Sorry for not being a good updater. You guys are amazing readers and reviewers and I basically suck. But here's a new chapter for you and I Promise I'll won't leave you hanging for that long again! Read and enjoy…_

Claire's eyes fluttered open. She was alone in a different room than before. Jared must've given her anther shot that made her blackout, but she couldn't really remember anything.

She didn't have a gag in her mouth and her hands and feet weren't tied together. She felt vulnerable in just a skirt and thin camisole top. Her hair was frazzled and wildly resting on her shoulders.

The new room she was in was also all stone and pretty small. There were no windows, just a dim light that hung from the middle of the ceiling. A twin sized bed frame with a mattress resting on top was in the corner of the room and next to it there was a black door. Claire used the wall to help her up from where she was sitting and groggily made her way over to the door, figuring it was worth a try to open it… But of course it was locked.

_God I wish Peter was here,_ she thought. Anything could've happened to him at this point. All Claire wanted to know is if he was ok… alive… if she would even ever get to see him again.

The large black door opened loudly, knocking Claire out of her thoughts. Two large men, seeming to be in their twenties stepped into the room. Claire backed up against the far wall in the room. Both men were wearing dark jeans, black shirts and black leather jackets. Neither one was Jared though; these two were new to Claire.

"Told you she was in here." One said to the other.

"Claire Bennet?" The other asked.

"What do you want?" Claire asked so coldly that icicles practically formed at her mouth.

She realized that maybe it wasn't the best thing to piss these guys off, but at this point she just didn't really care.

"Whoa, no need to be rude. After all Jared just sent us in here to keep you company." One said slamming the door behind him. The two started walking towards Claire.

"Yeah, you do look rather lonely." The other guy said.

Claire felt her heartbeat quicken but she tried to maintain her composure. She slowly moved down the wall away from them.

"Where you going sweetie?" one asked grabbing her wrist forcefully and yanking her towards him. "We just want to get to know you a little better." He said, his hot breath hitting Claire's face.

"Get your hands off of me." Claire said with force.

"Ok." He said smiling deviously. He looked up at his partner, winked, and then pushed Claire stumbling into his partner's arms.

"My name is Ben." He said once she was in his arms. He pressed his lips onto hers holding her body firmly against his. Claire squealed as he kissed her and he threw her back across the room to the other guy.

"And my name is Mike." He said giving her a short kiss as well.

"Stop, please." Claire said almost to the point of tears.

Mike turned Claire so that she was facing him and held onto her by the wrists.

"But you're just so damn hot." Mike said.

"Yeah, why would we stop?" Ben asked, suddenly he was right behind Claire and as he finished his sentence he pinched her butt making Claire jump in surprise.

"Oh she likes that." Mike said smiling at Ben.

"You're disgusting." Claire said starting to struggle and try to escape his hold. Mike let go of her wrists and Claire ran away from the two of them, shortly after realizing there was nowhere for her to run to.

"Where are you going Claire?" Ben asked advancing on her.

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Jared walked into the room where Peter was being held. Unlike Claire his hands were still tied together, but he didn't have a gag in his mouth.

"Hello Peter." Jared said.

Peter followed his every move with his eyes, but didn't say a word.

"Well I guess I get why you're mad at me. I hit on you're hot girlfriend and I'm holding you captive here. But don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you or Claire. I just want to run some tests. Which is what we're going to do right now. So you can either come peacefully or I can give you another shot. Your choice." Jared said, making sure to keep somewhat of a distance between himself and Peter. He had a gun in his pocket just in case Peter tried to pull anything. He knew of Peter's ability, but figured it would at least slow him down to get shot.

"Where's Sylar?" Peter asked him.

"I thought you might ask about him. I hear you really like him… maybe you two could room together." Jared suggested getting a kick out of the expression his comment left on Peter's face.

Peter stood up from his metal chair.

"Don't worry. Sylar's been…" Jared paused to search for the right word. He raised his eyebrows and finished "taken care of."

Peter was confused as to what exactly that meant.

"Well Peter, as much fun as I'm having bonding with you, we really need to go run some tests on you." Jared said… the first part obviously being sarcastic.

"I want to see Claire." Peter said.

"Maybe later." Jared said.

"I won't cooperate until I see her." Peter said his breathing starting to quicken.

"I'm afraid you don't really have a choice Peter." Jared said.

Peter nodded his head "Alright… your mistake." Peter said.

"What does that mean…" Jared started to ask, but before he knew what was going on Peter lunged towards him and punched him in the head knocking him out cold. Peter quickly grabbed Jared's gun out of his pocket and the keys to the door. After struggling to unlock the door he quickly ran out of it.

He stepped into a long and dark hallway… what looked like a run down old hospital or something. The lights shined brightly into Peter's eyes, which were used to the darker lighting of his "prison cell". Peter ran down the hallway checking all around him for someone that might try to catch him. He just needed to find Claire. If he could just find her, and get the two of them out of this hellhole and safe he would finally feel as if he could breath again.

Scared to yell out Claire's name for fear that someone unwanted might here, Peter just continued his search in silence.

Finally he came upon a couple doors. He opened one and inside he saw a very

unconscious Sylar lying on the floor. His face was blue and purple it was bruised so bad and there was dried up blood covering his arms and legs. Peter quickly closed the door and leaned against it for a moment to catch his breath from what he had just seen.

But he started to move again when he heard what sounded like Claire's distressed voice.

He came up on another door and he knew that Claire was inside it. He could hear her yelling "No." and "stop it". He took in a deep breath before he opened the door, terrified of what he might see.

When he opened it he saw Claire backed into a corner and two large men around her beginning to rip her clothes off.

"Get off of her!" Peter yelled running over to them and pulling them both off of her at the same time and throwing them to the opposite wall.

"Peter." Claire said surprised and out of breath.

"You must be Peter." Ben said

"Just shut up." Peter said pulling out his gun and pointing it at Ben and Mike.

"We were just having a little fun with Claire here." Ben said innocently.

"You call what you were doing fun? You're sick." Claire yelled.

"Claire." Peter said in a calming voice.

"We love how feisty she gets." Ben said smiling.

Apparently this was the last straw for Peter because he ran over to Ben and did his best to punch him square in the face, considering that his hands were still tied together.

Peter succeeded in knocking Ben out but Mike stealthily stole the gun from Peter's hands and pointed it at Claire.

"That's not going to hurt me." Claire said with almost a smile spreading across her face.

"It will slow you and Peter down enough for me to lock you two in this room." Mike said.

"Alright… fine… What do you want us to do?" Peter asked Mike, eyeing Claire at the same time.

"Just go sit down over there." Mike said obviously making this up on the spot. He had no idea what to do because he usually just followed orders from Jared.

"Ok." Peter said starting to walk towards the far wall but at the last second he turned and when Mike saw him coming he fired the gun at Claire who screamed right as Peter pushed Ben and banged his head against the wall knocking him out.

"Claire?" he asked immediately fearing that she had been shot.

Luckily when he turned he saw her standing vulnerably against the opposite wall in the room.

"Sorry." Peter said.

Once Claire could breathe again she ran over to Peter.

"I just missed the shot." She said.

"Come on we have to get out of here." Peter said starting to go but Claire grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

"Wait." She said taking his hands into hers and undoing the endless knots that had been tied around his wrists. Finally she got them all off and as the rope fell to the floor Claire fell into Peter's arms and he held her tightly for just a moment before backing away.

"We have to get out of here." Peter said.

"Ok." She said as Peter grabbed her hand and the two ran out of the room and down the hallway.

"Any idea how to get out?" Claire asked him her head frantically looking around all sides of her for some clue to get out.

"No." Peter said continuing to lead her down the hall taking a right turn.

"How did you get out?" Claire asked him.

"Just… knocked Jared out." Peter said taking another right turn.

"Wait Peter, slow down." Claire said feeling so out of breath she was clueless as to how she was still breathing at all.

Peter stopped for a moment.

The two were catching the breath when they heard a slow clapping from down the hallway.

"Nice try Claire and Peter." A voice said and as it came closer they saw it was Jared.

"Why don't you just let us go?" Claire pleaded with Jared.

"Because you two are special." Jared said.

"Please just leave us alone." Claire said.

"I'm afraid I just can't do…" Jared stopped talking midsentence as two shots were fired and Peter and Claire saw two spots of blood appear on Jared's shirt and he quickly fell to the floor.

Peter grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her closer to him.

"It's Isaac" Isaac said stepping up to Peter and Claire.

"How did you find us?" Peter asked him immediately.

"I painted a lot this morning and I just got led here. Come on I know the way out." Isaac said.

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Isaac led Peter and Claire out of the building to an old alleyway. It must've been around seven because it was starting to get dark and snow was falling outside.

Peter and Claire thanked Isaac for all his help… saving their lives which was something Claire was feeling accustomed to doing now.

Peter thought it was best for them to get away from the building and back to his apartment and he told Isaac that he was going to call Claire's father as soon as they made it back to his place and they would take things from there.

Isaac drove Peter and Claire to Peter's apartment and the two walked inside together.

Peter shut the door to his apartment and locked it every way he could.

Claire stood in the middle of the living room area silently and for the first time Peter really looked at her and saw that her skirt was ripped up both sides, she had no shoes on, and her shirt was badly ripped as well.

Peter wasn't sure what would be appropriate to say considering what both of them had just been through. He wasn't even sure he should say anything at all.

"I'll go get you something to change into." Peter offered finally turning to leave.

"Peter PLEASE don't leave me here!" Claire said in a raised voice.

He stopped, startled by her yelling. He turned and walked over to her and saw she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said placing a hand on her cheek and Claire placed her hand over his nudging her cheek against his warm skin.

"Just don't leave me." Claire said.

He nodded his head and stepped closer to her wrapping his arms around her body.

Claire's body went limp onto his and she leaned her head against his chest as Peter stroked her hair.

"Claire… did those guys… do anything to you?" Peter asked.

She shook her head against his chest "They would've if you hadn't shown up." Claire mumbled.

"I am so sorry Claire. I said I could protect you and I couldn't." Peter said.

"Please Peter. This isn't you're fault. We're just not safe." Claire said.

Peter wanted to reassure Claire that he was going to protect her, he wanted to give her some words of comfort but at this point he felt it would be a lie to say he could protect Claire because it was obvious that he couldn't.

Claire finally got the strength to wrap her arms up around Peter's neck.

"I should take a shower and change." She said.

"I'll get you some clothes." Peter said.

"I can't believe I'm asking this… but could you maybe stand outside the bathroom or something. Just…" Claire started.

"Of course." Peter said cutting her off in a sweet way.

Claire managed a smile and walked off towards the shower.

After Claire took a shower Peter took her into his bedroom so that the two of them could get some much-needed rest. He knew he should take a shower too but he didn't want to leave her alone. He felt it was the least he could do.

Claire seemed a little bit more at ease after her shower, wearing a pair of Peter's college sweatpants and a hoodie. She laid down on Peter's bed and he crawled in next to her.

Claire turned so that she was face him.

"I don't think I can fall asleep." Claire said.

Peter traced his fingers along Claire's cheek and into her hair.

"I'll be right here." Peter said.

Claire smiled at him "I know." She said. She turned around so that her back was to him and Peter moved his body closer to hers and wrapped his arm around her stomach leaning his head in and giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek before whispering "I love you." Into her ear and resting his head back on the pillow.

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A few hours later Peter heard a knock at the door.

Claire moved a little as she woke up.

"Do you mind if I get that?" Peter asked her.

"Go ahead." She said groggily and Peter slipped away from her.

"Be right back." He said walking out to the living room. He looked through the peephole and saw Nathan on the other side of the door.

He un-did the locks and let Nathan inside.

"Peter… thank god your ok." Nathan said pulling his little brother into a hug.

"Yeah, Claire and I are fine." Peter said.

"Isaac called and let everyone know what happened. Where's Claire?" Nathan asked.

"She's asleep in my room." Peter said.

"I'm just so glad you're alright." Nathan said.

"Nathan… I don't know what to do." Peter said running his hands through his hair.

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked him.

"I mean I probably almost lost Claire and she's terrified, and she has every right to be. I just… I can't protect her no matter how hard I try Nathan." Peter said.

"Peter you just have to do the best you can." Nathan said placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I have been, and it's killing me that I can't be the one to save her. How am I supposed to help her through this if even I don't believe that we're safe?" Peter asked Nathan.

Nathan sat down on Peter's couch and Peter sat down next to him.

"Look, Peter, we have to live with the gifts we've been given. Truthfully we are never safe but we're getting better at doing everything we can to keep safe. Now that this Jared guy's out of the picture all we have to worry about is Sylar." Nathan said.

"Nathan I saw Sylar… he was in a room with blood all over him and unconscious." Peter said.

"Was he alive?" Nathan asked Peter eagerly.

"I'm not sure. I only saw him for a second before I heard Claire yelling." Peter said searching his brain to try and remember if he saw him breathing or not.

"Well this could be really good news." Nathan said.

"Yeah, for now. But how long until another threat comes? I love Claire, and I just want to be happy with her. I never realized how much I wanted a normal life until I almost lost her again." Peter said laying his heads in his hands.

"Listen Peter. I know this is a bad situation we're in, but at least we all have each other. I know that's cheesy but it's true. We're just going to have to start being more careful." Nathan said.

Peter looked up at him "Yeah… I guess." Peter said. "I should probably get back to Claire."

"Yeah. Look I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'm sure everyone else will want to see you guys." Nathan said.

"Alright. Thanks for coming Nathan… it uh, means a lot." Peter said reflecting on the kind of strained relationship he'd had with Nathan for his entire life.

"No problem." Nathan said nodding and stepping out of the apartment.

"Hi." Claire said quietly standing in Peter's bedroom doorway after Nathan left.

"You're up." Peter said walking over to her.

"My dad just called. He said he's on the next flight here." Claire said shrugging.

"How are you?" Peter asked her.

"I'm ok. I'll be fine, you don't have to treat me like a porcelain doll." Claire said.

"You're amazing Claire." Peter said placing his hands on her waist.

"You're pretty amazing yourself Peter. You saved my life… again." Claire said.

"We should've never even been in that situation in the first place." Peter said.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Claire said.

"What do you want to talk about then?" Peter asked her.

"Well I am kind of starving, maybe we could order a pizza." Claire suggested.

"Of course." Peter said.

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That night Peter and Claire stayed up all night eating pizza and making fun of late night infomercials and lifetime movies. It was exactly what each needed, and while some may have thought that laughing so quickly after such a scary thing happened is crazy, for them it was just away to cope and move on.

Claire's dad arrived at around 10:00 the next morning and he took a taxi to Peter's apartment.

Claire had gone over to her dorm earlier to change and check in with Jen to fill her in on everything that happened. Jen was freaked to say the least but Claire promised her that she was ok.

As soon as Claire's dad walked into Peter's apartment Claire was already in his arms.

"Dad." She said letting out a large breath.

"Claire bear." He said back hugging his daughter tightly.

"Thanks for coming." Claire said letting go of his embrace.

"Well the Haitian and I have a couple of things to clear up here so it was kind of mandatory that I came. But I had to see my little girl anyways." He said switching his glance over to Peter.

"Peter, I am for ever in debt to you for saving Claire again." Noah said.

"Please, sir I love her." Peter said.

Noah looked a bit uncomfortable at that statement but he kept his feelings to himself.

"So, as I was saying I have some business to take care of here. Obviously we can't contact the police about any of this or else they'd know about our powers so I need to clean up this whole Jared mess, with Parkman's help." Noah said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Claire asked her father.

"Yes actually. We need you Peter and Isaac to leave town for a few days till we get things cleared up." Noah said.

Peter was immediately confused, "What?" He asked.

"Look it would just be easiest for everyone if you were all gone for a few days so we don't risk anything. We've bought you all plane tickets to San Francisco so you can spend a few days there and relax and when you come back here everything will be cleared up and you can go back to life as normal." Noah said.

"And we're going with Isaac?" Claire asked him.

"We thought that would be safest. That's not a problem is it?" Noah said.

"No." Claire said shaking her head. Peter stayed silent. Of course he was grateful to Isaac, but that didn't mean he had to like the guy anymore. He had a feeling Isaac had a thing for Claire and he didn't like that.

"Well good because the plane leaves in three hours." Noah said.

"What?" Claire and Peter asked in a surprised unison.

"The earlier the better." Noah said "it's just for three days and then you can come right back. We have the hotel and everything taken care of already." He said.

Claire looked to Peter as if it was his decision that was final for them to go or not.

Peter was silent for a little longer as the thought things over.

"I guess we should pack then." He said finally giving in.

"Great. I'll call Isaac and he can meet you guys at the airport in a couple of hours." Noah said.

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Peter and Claire made it through airport security an hour and half after Claire's father had arrived at Peter's apartment. It was a mad packing, running, driving ordeal but they finally made it. When they made it to their gate Isaac wasn't there yet so they sat down next to each other.

"I still don't see why we have to go with Isaac." Peter said unhappily.

Claire rolled her eyes, "Peter please. I don't know why you hate the guy. He's saved us yesterday and I think you should be a little grateful to him." Claire said.

Peter looked at Claire incredulously "That still doesn't erase things that he's done in the past." Peter said.

"Oh right, how could I forget… Simone." Claire said.

"Well I used to love her and he ruined that." Peter said.

"I'm glad you're holding a grudge with Isaac over another _girl._" Claire said pouting.

"Oh, come on. I'm not still in love with Simone. There's no need to be jealous." Peter said.

Claire scoffed at Peter. "I am not jealous! If anyone's jealous I think it's you. I know your worried Isaac likes me." Claire said.

"I'm just… look I don't want to argue with you." Peter said.

"Good, me neither. Now if you'll just stop complaining that would be great because Isaac is coming." Claire said seeing Isaac with a small bag in hand walking towards their gate.

"Oh, good." Peter said a bit sarcastically.

"Isaac, over here." Claire waved her hand and as he saw them he walked quickly over.

"Hi guys." Isaac said.

"Hi." Peter and Claire said in unison.

"How are you two?" Isaac asked awkwardly.

"Doing better." Claire said.

Peter struggled to say something, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well good. This weekend should be nice." Isaac said.

"Yeah, Great." Peter said. This was going to be a long weekend.

_Ok, well if your not too mad at me please review haha. I will update sooner, next chapter is the crazy san fran weekend. Sorry again! Thanks and Bye!_


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